Interest in Thailand also jumped last month in TheMoveChannel.com’s monthly ‘Top of the Props’ chart which ranks countries in terms of searches conducted on its website.
The Land of Smiles was the 12th most-searched destination on the UK-based website, accounting for 1.29 per cent of all searches.
Thailand is also the only country from Asia to make it into the top 40.
Dan Johnson, Managing Director of TheMoveChannel.com, said, “Property in Thailand jumped up two places to hover just below the Top 10 in October’s Top of the Props, a sign that investors are continuing to return to the market following last year’s flooding.
“With the economy back on track, demand for real estate is growing again. Phuket and Pattaya are still proving to be the most popular among investors.
“Pattaya overtook Phuket for the first time since June 2012 to become the destination of choice for buyers, accounting for 46 per cent of Thai property enquiries last month compared with Phuket’s 41 per cent.”
The USA was the most-searched destination during October, the first time it has claimed the top spot in the monthly rankings since December 2011. One in five visitors to TheMoveChannel was looking for property in the US.
The support for US property was so strong that not even Spain, America’s long-standing real estate rival, could compete. Searches for US property accounted for a record 20.91 per cent of all enquiries – the largest share ever recorded by a country since Top of the Props reports began.
Johnson added: “Go back several years and US property always came out on top of TheMoveChannel.com’s polls. It is only in recent years that Spain and the Eurozone have dominated the overseas real estate market.
“Over the past year, the US has become the main rival to Spain’s lifestyle appeal. It replaced France as buyers’ second favourite property destination several months ago.”
After the US and Spain the remaining eight places in the Top 10 were taken, in order, by Portugal, France, Italy, Cyprus, Turkey, Brazil, Bulgaria and the UAE.