Investing locally has many advantages. You know more about the area, the laws and regulations, the market and several other benefits. However. If you market sucks. It might actually be a good idea to look elsewhere for good investments. As of now, Sweden is actually pretty good for owning real estate. I think it will remain that way for quite some time thanks to the fast growing population. There is a shortage of rental units in all metropolitan areas and thanks to the massive costs of building new units it will very likely remain that way for many years ahead.
Sadly it’s not as good all over the world. If you live in a country or area where the market isn’t very lucrative you might want to go look for cash flow elsewhere. Because I want all of you to do as well as possible, I have worked day and night for months to put together this super sweet list. (not true, I found it online :). But. It’s a good list. Have a look and see if there is any country that rings you a bell. If so, go there and buy something.
Apartments in: Price/sq. m Rent/mo. Yield/ p.a
Andorra €3,868 €790 2.04%
Argentina $2,813 $2,053 7.30%
Aruba $1,455 $1,774 7.32%
Australia $7,626 $3,472 4.55%
Austria €5,009 €1,775 3.54%
Bahamas $3,632 $2,964 8.16%
Belgium €2,420 €1,338 5.53%
Bermuda $7,056 $5,597 4.76%
Brazil $3,751 $1,765 4.71%
BVI $6,469 $3,071 2.85%
Bulgaria €1,068 €498 4.66%
Cambodia $2,913 $1,553 5.33%
Canada $8,288 $3,047 3.68%
Cayman Is. $4,163 $3,018 7.25%
Chile $2,749 $1,714 6.23%
China $6,932 $1,841 2.66%
Colombia $2,379 $1,548 6.51%
Costa Rica $1,642 $1,147 8.38%
Croatia €2,026 €1,164 5.75%
Cyprus €2,350 €912 3.88%
Czech Rep. €3,384 €1,415 4.18%
Denmark €4,297 €2,071 4.84%
Ecuador $1,278 $1,027 8.04%
Egypt $831 $977 9.40%
El Salvador $1,193 $1,013 8.49%
Estonia €2,373 €1,016 4.28%
Finland €6,214 €2,254 3.63%
France €13,639 €3,938 2.89%
Gambia $667 $330 5.94%
Germany €4,078 €1,362 3.34%
Greece €2,572 €984 3.83%
Guadeloupe $2,925 $1,445 4.94%
Hong Kong $22,814 $6,431 2.82%
Hungary €1,528 €1,154 7.55%
India $11,455 $2,540 2.39%
Indonesia $2,766 $2,623 7.05%
Israel $9,511 $3,280 3.45%
Italy €5,930 €2,288 3.86%
Jamaica $1,404 $1,369 9.75%
Japan $10,784 $5,413 5.02%
Jordan $1,282 $1,367 8.53%
Kenya $900 $1,616 7.18%
Latvia €2,618 €1,228 4.92%
Lebanon $3,693 $2,082 4.51%
Lithuania €1,998 €1,195 5.98%
Luxembourg €5,669 €2,180 3.85%
Macedonia €1,039 €618 5.95%
Madagascar $520 $320 7.38%
Malaysia $2,616 $1,196 4.57%
Malta €2,748 €888 3.23%
Martinique $2,979 $1,524 5.12%
Mexico $2,635 $2,045 7.76%
Moldova €965 €965 10.00%
Monaco €44,522 €7,480 1.90%
Montenegro €1,400 €1,055 7.53%
Morocco $2,015 $1,217 6.04%
Netherlands €4,907 €2,675 5.45%
New Zealand $5,611 $3,052 5.44%
Nicaragua $1,342 $1,596 7.13%
Panama $2,001 $1,799 8.99%
Peru $1,810 $1,183 6.54%
Philippines $3,084 $2,323 7.53%
Poland €2,482 €1,666 6.71%
Portugal €1,769 €770 4.36%
Puerto Rico $1,365 $1,011 7.40%
Romania €1,537 €1,193 7.76%
Russia €11,866 €3,820 3.22%
Serbia €2,239 €994 4.44%
Singapore $15,251 $4,332 2.83%
Slovak Rep. €1,982 €1,110 5.60%
Slovenia €2,843 €1,268 4.46%
South Africa $4,101 $2,236 5.45%
Spain €3,442 €1,345 3.91%
St Kitts $3,496 $1,712 4.90%
St Lucia $1,860 $1,108 3.57%
St Martin $3,267 $4,000 4.90%
Switzerland €11,306 €3,508 3.10%
Taiwan $7,112 $1,117 1.57%
Tanzania $700 $500 8.57%
Thailand $3,952 $2,029 5.13%
Trinidad & T. $2,334 $1,607 6.88%
These are fun numbers. And a little bit surprising. With my open mind I get tons of ideas by looking at a list like this. An example could be the very cheap apartments in Madagascar. You could buy hundreds of them with an average return of almost 8% as of today. Since they are very cheap even compared to their salaries they will most likely yield higher prices within a few years. As they do rent should also pick up a bit. When you have hundreds of units even small changes in prices or rents makes big differences for you.