If you are about to buy an overseas property then, despite today’s uncertain global economy, you are one of a growing number of people returning to the market after a period of, how shall we say, choppy waters.

The latest PrimeLocation.com International Search Index, which is published quarterly, reveals that the number of people house hunting on our site increased overall by 14% during the third quarter of 2011 and by 17% for the top ten most popular destinations (see list below).

At the top of the table, the United States is the most popular attracting 31% more searches than in the previous three months and overall it remains the third most popular destination for property hunters.

France: one of the European countries that an increasing number of British buyers searched for last quarter.

Switzerland was another big winner within the top ten – the number of searches for its Alpine homes increased by 30%, helped by the thousands of wealthy Brits moving money into its safe haven property markets at the moment.

But what, you may ask, is stirring people to buy overseas when several of the countries popular with British buyers are facing financial meltdown – i.e. Spain, Italy, Greece and Portugal?

The answer is that searches are beginning to increase again in the better known destinations despite the financial problems besetting them as many British retirees decide it’s time to emigrate to Europe and beyond for a better quality of life despite the recession.

PrimeLocation.com index also recorded more interest in Germany; searches there rose by 28% compared to the previous quarter driven by its status as the darling of international investor set as its economy shrugs off the recession.

So are there any losers? Only two countries within the top ten saw a decline. Searches for Cyprus property fell by one per cent, and the United Arab Emirates by five per cent, which dropped one place as a result within the Top Ten.

For a full list of the most popular countries by volume of searchs, go to www.primelocation.com.

Not so long ago everyone was snapping up second homes on a sunny Spanish Costa or other equally warm European destination. But now the escalating debt crisis in Southern Europe is affecting the number of Brits looking for a home abroad.

Our new research reveals interest in Portuguese, Italian, Greek and Spanish property fell by almost a quarter (24%) between January and June this year.

As concerns mount that Italy and Spain may be the next victims of the toxic European debt crisis, our data suggests their sensitive property markets are already suffering.

The table below shows each country’s percentage decline of interest in property searches.

Interestingly, although Ireland suffered at the beginning of the year, it’s the only debt-ridden nation to have an increase in property searches, up 12 per cent between April and June, compared to the first three months of the year. Perhaps investors think the country has now hit rock-bottom and are taking advantage of the low prices?

This research also backs up recent findings from estate agents Knight Frank which revealed second home ownership in England is at its highest on record as families enjoy ‘generational staycations’ – where they take the grand-parents and children away to a large family holiday home within the UK.

But whilst the economy may be more stable here, we do lack the continental sunshine.

PrimeLocation had been pondering this pub-quiz question ever since an invite arrived in our inbox last week, beckoning the team to join a select gathering at the Westbury Hotel in Mayfair. 

The RSVP invite mentioned cocktails and canapes and encouraged us to join upmarket Portuguese and Swiss property experts from agent Sotheby’s Realty International. A more unlikely mob is hard to imagine – clipped, tight lipped Swiss suits mixing with louche, heavily tanned ex beach bums.

The reality was very different. An eclectic mix of PRs, accountants and estate agents from London, Europe and even Miami gathered in a small back room of this posh hotel; there were some distinct accents and the odd good sun tan as well as a buzz from the excitement of being in London for the night.

Over Moet & Chandon bubbles and smoked salmon blinis everyone chatted and predictably shared the same view – it’s a must to own a property abroad. And if you can’t choose between the skiing in Switzerland or the sunbathing in Portugal, why not have a property for each season?

So what do one of Europe’s richest countries and one that’s nearly bankrupt have in common and why are we having a party for them? Apart from the obvious sales push from the agents about the luxury resorts and apartments for sale, it was a celebration of their favourable tax regimes; something of a hot topic for London’s big earners at the moment, as the UK’s higher taxes and regulation bear down on them.

John Duggan from PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Portugal office stands up at the end of a small, informal presentation and cliams that it’s not only Switzerland that has all the tax trump cards.

Despite Portugal’s catastrophic government finances at the moment, we are told it’s a great place for foreign buyers to invest – relocating residents enjoy a  10-year tax holiday plus exemption from tax on foreign pensions and exemptions on investment and rental income. At the mention of in-depth tax and finance we began to glaze over but Mr Duggan has promised to write us a guide explaining in more detail how to invest in Portuguese property, so watch this space.

A villa with private pool at the luxury Pine Cliffs Resort in Portugal

As well as the tax benefits, a tanned Artur Simes showed us his model village of his luxury Algarve resort, Pine Cliffs. Having washed down buckets of champagne and too many prawn skewers, we were somewhat impressed and fancied buying one. Simes is walking proof of the 300 days of sunshine the area gets and he claimed a guaranteed five percent return on investment for three years if you want to let out our property through them.

So what about Switzerland? Many a banker knows the benefits of relocating there. It has one of the lowest taxation rates of any western nation and its taxes are based on your expenditure and standard of living rather than income or assets. And if you’re looking for a property to suit the well-off lifestyle, Du Parc - an imposing Belle Epoque mansion, converted from a hotel to luxury apartments, on the shore of Lake Geneva is a great place to start.

Du Parc Kempinski Residences in Switzerland

But the time had come to go home. The last of the Moet bottles had been upended and the warm Spring evening’s air beckoned. Thanks to Sotheby’s International Realty for the hospitaltiy hospitality.

While everyone is talking ad infinitum about the wedding of William and Kate this month, many have forgotten Will’s horse-mad cousin, Zara Phillips, and her July nuptials.

Zara doesn’t seem to mind as she has lots to be excited about besides her lower-key wedding. There’s the 2012 Olympics in London to prepare for (she’s in the Olympic equestrian team) and a newly built villa on the CampoReal Golf Resort and Spa to move in to.

Back in 2009 Phillips bought the land within the 200-acre gated site and began building her villa, largely because she was drawn to CampoReal’s extraordinary equestrian centre (for her) and its 18-hole golf course (for him).

Royal splash: One of the villas at the Campo Real equestrian resort.

The location is ideal for their busy lifestyles because it’s only 30 minutes from Lisbon airport, from which it’s easy to hop back to Bristol, the nearest airport to the couple’s Cotswolds home. The four-bedroom Portuguese villa (with 220sqm of living space) comes with a private swimming pool and was built on the edge of the old vineyards. It will be the Zara’s first home abroad.

The CampoReal Golf Resort and Spa, which opened in 2006 near Turcifal, offers 372 properties with access to the 18hole golf course. This includes villas, town houses, apartments and a five-star hotel. Buyers can sign a freehold leaseback which means they can stay for six weeks of the year and earn rental income from when they’re not there.

Prices range from €250,000 (£219,015) for a one bedroom apartment, €440,000 (£385,500) for the three-bedroom and three bathroom townhouses and €690,000 (£604,600)for the basic premium villa, but there are extra costs and services that can also be added on. Owners and guests will have access to; on-site restaurants, a car and driver, baby sitting, 24 hour room services, swimming pools, laundry services.

Back to school: villa owners at CampoReal can exercise their horses at the resort's huge outdoor arena.

Phillips and Tindall have had to postpone their honeymoon this July because Tindall will be training and playing in the World Cup warm-up game against Wales on August 6th. As the house should be ready before the wedding they are hoping to get away for a pre-wedding honeymoon before July.

The site – founded by Eduardo Netto de Almeida, part of a dynasty of Portuguese horsemen – is not the first equestrian centre to open in Portugal. In 2007 world ranked show jumper and Irish television personality Jessica Kuerten opened an equestrian centre in Quintas de Obidos after noticing the number of top international show jumpers taking their horses to the silver coast of months at a time. The luxurious and exclusive country club and spa has 79 large lakeside homes, with the equestrian centre at the heart of it.

This Friday the Channel 4 TV show A Place in the Sun begins its three day tenancy at Earls Court in London and Primelocation International will be there, along with 160 companies offering overseas properties for sale and homebuying services.

Headlining the event will the show’s three most famous presenters – Amanda Lamb (who presents the show’s video, below), Jonnie Irwin and Jasmine Harman – who will be appearing on stage to give advice about buying foreign property and answer questions about their work as TV presenters and signing copies of A Place in the Sun magazine. But they will also be joined by other experts including LBC radio presenter, property investment guru and Apprentice TV show contestant James Maxx.

VIDEO: Watch Amanda Lamb introduce this year’s A Place in Sun Live show

Primelocation International’s property analyst Nigel Lewis will also speaking every day at the show on the main stage, revealing ‘ten things you didn’t know about overseas property’ including which country has the easiest buying/conveyancing process; which town the Spanish holiday home revolution started in, which country offers the best quality of life and which day was the best financially to buy a property in Europe over the past year. Catch him during the show at 11.45am on Friday, 12.30pm on Saturday and 2pm on Sunday.

And if you want a free ticket to attend the show – follow this link to claim yours.

Formula One legend Ayrton Senna died at the wheel of his racing car, but remains an idol to millions worldwide. His star is set to rise again when he becomes the subject of a documentary film to be released in UK cinemas in June.

Ahead of that release, Primelocation International can bring you news that the Portuguese villa owned by the double world champion in the three years before his accident on May 1 1994 is now on the market and could be yours – providing you have a Grand Prix-style income to pay the 10m euro price tag.

Senna designed the home as his European base for the eight months of the typical F1 season and would  return to his native Brazil each winter; for that reason it is larger than the typical Algarve holiday home.

The villa sits on the exclusive Quinta do Lago resort and boasts six bedrooms and seven bathrooms, a games den, home cinema and study, plus what the selling agent calls ‘a cosy winter snug’ – that’s a sunken lounge with a fireplace. There is also a three bedroom guest annexe where Senna entertained, amongst others, fellow-Brazilian Rubens Barrichello, now a F1 veteran in his own right and another Algarve resident.

The grounds of Senna’s villa are large – the whole plot is 113,000 square feet – and reflects the driver’s reputation as a fitness devotee. There is a large pool, floodlit tennis court and football pitch as well as a four-hole putting green, trampoline and woodland.

Andre Jordan, the Brazilian who designed the resort back in 1970, says Senna was “exactly the sort of person Quinta do Lago was created for” – well-known, wealthy “but wanting to completely relax in an informal yet exclusive environment.”

The villa is located on Avenida Ayrton Senna – renamed in his honour in 1995 – a sign that whatever happens to the home in the future, the memory of its original owner will live on.

The property is on the market through Savills International

Primelocation is sponsoring this year’s  International Property Awards in association with Bloomberg Television, the housing world’s answer to the Oscars with a red carpet event to be held on November 25th and 26th this year in central London. 

So could your next home end up with an international gong for its architecture, build quality or a range of other categories?

These awards may not offer the same glamour and stars as the yearly Oscars in Hollywood, but in many ways they are not far off with categories that include best golf development, international property, apartment and interior design.

The event began it began in 1994 and has developed into a global concern with regional heats held across the world during the build up to the final in London. This comes to a glamorous climax at an event attended by the leading lights of the property world and celebrities.

These in past years have included Rick Wakeman of 1970s supergroup Yes, BBC Royal Correspondent Jenny Bond, interiors expert Linda Barker and Location, Location, Location star Phil Spencer. And the awards have high profile sponsors too. As well as Primelocation.com these include newspaper The New York Times, Google, Bloomberg Television and Maserati.

But one thing that doesn’t change is the robust judging process. Every year the world’s industry experts gather to judge - including this time round Primelocation.com’s Nigel Lewis - whether the hundreds of entries from across the globe pass the quality test.

A wide range of residential and commercial properties are judged from grand villas in Dubai to office developments in Budapest, and previous winners have included UK agent Knight Frank, developer Berkeley Homes (for its Sugar House development in London) and the Dunas Douradas Beach Club on Portugal’s Algarve coast. But winners come from a wide range of countries including Panama, Brazil, India, Singapore, South Africa and Cape Verde.

Many British owners of overseas holiday homes have spent the past 18 months watching their properties endure price drops, no doubt much to their discomfort.

Or at least that is the received wisdom. But research released today reveals that,  instead, the weakening pound has increased rather than diminished the value of their overseas investments.

Figures from foreign exchange specialist Close Treasury show that, despite falling prices in France, Spain, Portugal and the USA, and weak price growth in Italy, the dominance of the euro and dollar have – on paper – helped increase the  value of British-owned properties overseas.

A British-owned villa in Portugal which, despite local price drops, may still be worth more today than 18 months ago following recent pound/euro fluctuations

Close Treasury says the collective value of our places in the sun increased by £2.6 billion between July 2008 and December last year – during the lows of the general economic and banking crisis.

For example, during this period prices in France dropped on average by 6.6% but because of the euro’s increased strength against the pound, British owners saw an average rise in value of £10,400 per property. Close Treasury says there are 98,000 properties in France owned by Brits.

In Spain, where some 144,500 properties are owned by British citizens, house prices fell by 8.35% between 2008 and 2009, but the euro difference gave owners a collective gain of £1.1 billion or £7,700 a property.

And even in the US, where the property market has endured the darkest days most Americans can remember, Brits saw the cash-in value of their properties in the land of the free jump by £1,750.

If I was living abroad (and indeed, if I had won the lottery), a vineyard would be a dream come true. I don’t know all that much about wine, but I do rather enjoy a glass. And there’s something rather romantic about rolling hills and serene countryside. That would be quite a nice view if you coupled it with a glass of white. Don’t you think? So here are my picks of the best vineyard finds.

France

This stunning French vineyard property is just 18 miles north of Bordeaux. It comes with 45 hectares of vineyards (the property has a whopping 75 hectares of land you see). There is potential to develop it into a hotel, and at £14 million you might want to see if you could get some of that cash back, but I can’t quite get past how pretty it is. I’d much rather keep it all to myself. Although exactly what I’d do with 20 bedrooms I’m not sure. Still, if you’ve got a few million quid in the bank, a (very) large family and a penchant for a good bottle of plonk, this place could be for you. Or, you can check out these other French vineyard properties.

 
Italy

We couldn’t write about vineyards without mentioning Italy, could we? We this lovely pile of stone is right in the heart of Chianti (yes, get your Hannibal Lecter impressions out of the way now, go on). And well, it’s not only a stunning building, it produces a staggering 250,000 bottles of first class wine each year. Yet it does that and still manages to look like a charming little Italian farmhouse. Isn’t that clever. I want this one. If you’ve got a spare £13 million then it’s all yours. I might have to save my pennies for a little while first. In the meantime I’ll drool over these too.

Portugal

OK, so I’ve gone a little teensy bit crazy with the pricey houses. And I don’t really need 20 bedrooms. So this Portuguese vineyard property might just be within reach. If you’ve got a million lying about in your pocket. But still, you’re saving heaps if you go for this one instead. It’s got 6 bedrooms, and a circular lounge with an all-important library. Whether or not the books are in Portuguese I don’t know. But there’s a vineyard in the grounds too, which is what we’re after. Great news. You can enjoy a tipple while you’re in the Jacuzzi. Wow.

For those buying a holiday home abroad who intend to make full use of it during the warm summer months, the ultimate must-have is a swimming pool.

There’s nothing quite like having your own, private swimming pool on hand, so you can take a dip and cool off, or get your daily dose of exercise without leaving the confines of your room. Plus, relaxing by the poolside in the sun, enjoying drinks by the pool before dinner or dining outside in the cooler evening air are the ultimate ingredients for perfect holiday living.

If you fancy snapping up your own luxury home with a swimming pool, then here is a great selection of prime homes, all sporting swimming pools of various sizes, located in the popular locations of Spain, France and Portugal. Take your pick!

Spain

Located in Atalaya Park, between Estepona and Marbella, this one-level house with five bedrooms and four bathrooms also boasts a private swimming pool, outdoor sauna and Jacuzzi. It’s on the market for £798,235.

Also available in Spain, is this five-bedroom house situated about five minutes from Palma. It benefits from air conditioning, has a large garden, extensive terraces and that all important swimming pool. It’s priced at £746,585.

France

A sunny six bedroom villa, located in the hills of Golfe-Juan and 10 minutes from Cannes is on the market for £895,994. Outside, it has a private heated swimming pool, plenty of space for relaxing on sun loungers and a stunning Mediterranean garden. Nice International Airport is only 15 minutes away.

An L-shaped, solar heated tiled swimming pool is the star of the show at a five-bedroom house in Montpelier for £861,730. Located in a residential area of a village, the outdoor living elements include a large covered terrace with exposed beams, landscaped gardens and the pool. The house comes with planning permission for an independent guest house.

 
Portugal

A five-bedroom country villa, located in Sta Barbara de Nexe, at Quinta do Lago in Portugal is on the market for £749,402. The house is partly furnished, has air conditioning and outside there’s a beautiful mature garden and lovely swimming pool. Faro International Airport, golf courses and beaches are 15 minutes away.

Elsewhere in Portugal, there’s a luxury villa for sale in landscaped gardens and citrus groves in the hills about Loule. Inside, the villa has underfloor heating, three double bedrooms solar panelling and air conditioning in the kitchen. Outside, it’s surrounded by gorgeous gardens and has an inviting swimming pool. There’s also a covered eating area with its own kitchen, which makes it perfect for outside eating and parties. It’s on the market for £727,803.