Bamboo Auctions: an innovative new platform for purchasing overseas property

April 30, 2015

With Indian investors turning their gaze towards the world of online property sales and the UK property market, the Bamboo Auctions platform promises to be an easy, efficient and exciting way to purchase overseas property online.

In recent years, the UK has become a hotbed for property investment from overseas – and in particular from India. It’s no wonder that the UK is drawing in overseas investors – it has the fourth highest capital growth in the world and its yield levels have surged to record highs. A 2014 report by Savills found that Indians have become the predominant group of international property buyers in the capital, overtaking their Chinese counterparts as a result of their country’s growing middle-class and economy, and the low yields for Indian residential rental property. This demographic, acknowledged by Savills to be “the most important to the London market among the emerging economies”, has spent nearly £450m on property in the centre of the capital, with the most popular locations being Mayfair and Belgravia.

According to the Mistoria Group, student accommodation is the strongest growing area for property investment in the UK. This arena is an appealing one to Indian investors with its offering of hands-off, high yield investment opportunities, and also due to the burgeoning student population in the UK, with 30,000 more university places being offered last year. To many Indian investors, the UK is a far more lucrative prospect than their homeland for the student market as tenancy laws are much stronger and title disputes much rarer in the UK.

Indian property buyers are also embracing the online world – online property sales have vastly increased in popularity, and there has been a rapid emergence of online portals such as Housing.com, Makaan.com and 99acres.com which help people to research, buy and sell properties in India, as well as keep up-to-date with current industry news.

Looking into the world of online property auctions would be a natural extension of this cyber enthusiasm. They allow investors to bid on properties in other countries, without having to leave the comfort of their own home. Bamboo Auctions, an online property auction website allows buyers and sellers to exchange immediately at the end of the auction period, benefiting all parties involved – agents receive their commission faster, and buyers and sellers are afforded a more certain, clean transaction. Anuj Puri, the Chairman of JLL India, attributes the lure of investors towards international property markets to the relative lack of transparency in the Indian one. Bamboo Auctions was created as a medium to improve the buying process and to increase the transparency and certainty behind the transaction.

High yields and good asset growth are not the only concerns overseas investors have to consider. Having a hands-off investment is ideal for all investors but are, for obvious reasons, a necessity for those investing in international markets. With Bamboo, the process is guaranteed to be stress-free and doesn’t demand a great deal of your time or energy – it is as hands-off/hands-on as you want to make it. The company has seen a great deal of interest since launching in the summer of 2014 and looks set to supply the demand in the market for a truly efficient property portal. It massively improves the efficiency and ease of purchasing property abroad, all while evading a dreaded long, drawn-out purchase process and the chances of being gazumped.

The site is currently featuring London property at high yields of 6%, a fantastic opportunity for overseas investors. The company believes that the platform is the ideal medium for investors interested in the UK:

“Indian investors are showing a great deal of interest in the British property market, and we hope to be the catalyst which takes this to even higher levels – bringing property auctions into the modern online era and offering a clear and easy route for overseas investors to bid on property in the UK”.

Whether you are interested in investing in the UK property market in general, or in a more specific sector, such as student accommodation, now is the time to act. CCI Newswire