The overseas property market has always been of interest to investors and people buying a future retirement home. But with the UK buy-to-let market becoming more costly in April because of the UK Government’s proposed tax increases, overseas property and mortgage specialist Simon Conn believes buyers could be considering more seriously other international destinations in 2016.

The most popular places to buy abroad from the enquiries he received last year were Spain, France, USA, Portugal, Ireland and Italy. Interest has been growing in South Africa, although there are not many mortgages available, and Greece and Cyprus were also popular.

The arrival of New Year provides a chance to take stock, make plans and look to the future with a positive frame of mind. For many, this will include the excitement of finally planning to buy their dream home overseas, providing the perfect antidote to the months of grey, chilly weather on offer in the UK.

Whether it's a detached villa with pool on Disney's doorstep in Florida, a stylish apartment close to the beach in Spain or a perfectly located country retreat in Portugal, the overseas property market is awash with great value properties for those who know where to look.

Every year in December we reflect on the past year and provide an outlook for the property market in the year ahead, 2016. As expected, trading conditions for real estate have improved over the past 12 months.

Looking back we can say that the market bottomed out in 2013/2014. During this period transaction volume steadily increased but property prices remained weak for most of this period.

However by the end of 2014 we saw some price improvement which continued more broadly in 2015 making this the first time in 6 years that vendors started to benefit from the recovery too.

Over the past decade, the landscape of the overseas property market has changed vastly. Property entrepreneur and Founding Director of Ideal Homes Portugal and Ideal Homes International Chris White has been selling property through the good times and the bad. After a turbulent 10 years, he believes the overseas property market has finally reset itself - and that now is the time to look to the future.

Exclusive Algarve VIllas, the Algarve's award winning luxury real estate agent brings you 5 beautiful properties for sale this festive season.

For more information about these, or any other of our properties, please contact us on +351 282 353 019, or email info@exclusivealgarvevillas.com.

Every overseas property professional wants to know where the real estate hotspots are around the world, so the Rightmove guide, Who’s Buying Property Where? for 2015/16 makes fascinating reading.

In addition, investor demand is rising significantly, with Rightmove seeing overseas inquiries rise by half over the last year.

The recently released September 2015 RICS/Ci Portuguese Housing Market Survey (PHMS) has revealed a swiftly moving market, with sale indicators pointing to the fastest level of monthly growth in sales volumes since they survey began in 2010. A sustained rise in demand has led to an acceleration in prices, with the market seriously gathering momentum.

A recent air pollution survey conducted by Airport Parking and Hotels warned that many popular holiday destinations may be harmful to visitors' health due to the quality of their air. Dubai's air quality ranking, based on data gathered during October 2015, was considered 'very unhealthy,' while Beijing was considered 'hazardous.' Indeed, according to a study by Berkeley Earth, every hour of exposure to air pollution in Beijing can reduce an individual's life expectancy by 20 minutes. Globally, air pollution kills more than 3 million people every year and the World Health Organization (WHO) has stated that just 12% of the world's population is living in cities with clean air.