It always nice to welcome a guest viewpoint. This week our viewpoint feature comes from Dan Graham who writes for Accounting Web’s Business Management Zone.

Britons spend around £6bn a year on second homes, including overseas property, according to figures from the Office of National Statistics. That figure has tripled since 2003 - and it looks set to keep rising. A recent survey commissioned by Barclays suggests that over 2 million British families already own homes abroad, and around 2 million more are planning to buy overseas in the near future. A massive 37% of people who took part in the survey said that buying a second home is a long-term goal.

Wannabe second homers look in various parts of the world for their place in the sun, depending on the purpose of their purchase and their attitude to risk. Speculators looking to get into and out of a market fast generally look to fast-growing destinations with plenty of new development, where it’s possible to buy a property off plan and resell it at a profit before it’s even built. That kind of buying activity has helped to fuel market growth in locations such as Dubai and Bulgaria.

At the other extreme are buyers who simply want a property to love, cherish and perhaps retire to. Locations close to home in mainland Europe are natural destinations for these long-termers, since travel time to the second home will be an important factor for weekends away, along with quality of life, community and familiarity.

Somewhere in the middle are various shades of investors, who intend to buy and hold their overseas property. They might want to let it out to tenants or holidaymakers, possibly use it themselves for part of the year, but certainly watch its value grow as a hedge against inflation, poor pension fund performance and the trials of life in a cold, grey climate. For these investors, familiar locations such as Spain, France, Italy and Florida still have appeal, but newer markets in the Aegean, Mediterranean, Atlantic or Caribbean could also fit the bill. Adventurous souls - whether speculators or longer-term investors - could look further afield to areas that are tipped for growth in future, such as China, India and South America.

Of course, there are risks involved in buying abroad that don’t apply when investing in bricks and mortar at home - and these vary greatly depending on the location. But before worrying about the pitfalls, let’s look at the opportunities in current overseas ‘hot spots’ and areas which offer potential.

The fastest growing city in the world, awash with five-star hotels and vast shopping malls, Dubai is among the hottest destinations for British tourists and property buyers. Advantages include a stunning location by the Arabian Gulf, reasonable air fares from the UK, and virtually no taxes. Apartments and villas have been selling off plan like hot cakes, and many have already been resold. Some have changed hands several times during the construction phase.

Very little has actually been completed here yet, but still the concrete keeps pouring and the skyline and coastline keep changing. Offshore, the largest man-made islands on the planet are being constructed in the shape of giant palm trees, together with a collection of islands called The World, each in the shape of a different nation or state. Thousands of villas and apartments will eventually line the coastlines of these artificial islands.

On the mainland, property investors can choose from any number of new developments, including the top-of-the-range Dubai Marina, Dubailand (a massive theme park and sports city), Burj Dubai (centred around one of the world's tallest towers) International City (a collection of 10 themed residential areas), and the Dubai Waterfront, which will eventually blossom into a city by the sea housing 700,000 people.

Property prices in Dubai, which a few years ago were cheap as chips, have been rising as fast as the skyscrapers, and now you won’t see much change from £250,000 for a 2-bedroom apartment on a prime development like Dubai Marina or The Palms. However, resale property can be cheaper if you look at local agents’ listings, and you can get an entry level studio on some of the newer developments, such as International City or Dubailand, for less than £50,000.

Some investors have started to worry that Dubai is a bubble about to burst. Certainly, it seems unlikely that prices can keep soaring as they have done since 2002, when Sheikh Mohammed started off the property investment boom by decreeing that foreigners could buy freehold property in designated development areas.

However, it is likely that there’s still some growth left in the Emirate’s property market, for a number of reasons. A new law was recently passed which ratifies the promise made by Sheikh Mohammed, that foreigners can own freehold land. This should make it easier to raise finance on Dubai property. Also, the residential and tourist populations continue to increase, and there is a huge amount of oil money washing around the Gulf with very few places to flow except into the property market. As a result of these positive influences, Dubai could still be a ‘buy and hold’ location for investors looking for long-term growth and rental income, who are prepared to accept the risk of buying in a market that has already boomed. But it’s no longer a speculator’s dream.

Western money has been pouring into the former Eastern Bloc countries since the Iron Curtain fell, but only in the last few years has the second home market boomed in the East. Bulgaria is currently flavour of the month, with Britons buying on tourist developments in popular Black Sea resorts such as Elenite, Sunny Beach, Nessebur and Sozopol, as well as the all-year-round ski resorts in Bulgaria’s jaw-dropping mountains, such as Bansko and Pamprovo. Of course, if this somewhat austere former communist country turns out to be a flash in the pan as a tourist destination, it could all fall horribly flat. But with prices cheerfully low and rising, many investors consider this a risk worth taking, especially with EU membership on the cards in 2007.

Much of the buying in Bulgaria is off plan. You can pick up a 1 to 3-bedroom ski apartment in Pamporovo for around £40,000 to £70,000, with an expected rental yield of up to 8%. Around £50,000 will get you a 2-bedroom apartment in the mountain location of Kalina - 10 minutes from the ski resort of Borovets - with communal pool and nearby golf course. Around €400 million is due to be invested in Borovets over the next 2 to 3 years.

On the Black Sea coast, around £70,000 to £100,000 will buy you a studio apartment in a classy development in Sunny Beach, with a private pool and garden. In Golden Sands, you can buy a stake in a newly-built apartment-hotel with spa and pool from around £25,000. You could also consider a flat in the capital, Sofia, which is a thriving commercial centre with high demand for rental properties.

There has been plenty of news coverage about the booming property market in Romania, where prices have been rising by 20% a year or more in some locations, but are still amazingly cheap by western standards. Ceausescu’s former dictatorship is expected to join the EU next year and lift all restrictions on foreign ownership of land. Until then, it’s possible to own title by forming a Romanian company, (as it is in Bulgaria).

The starting price for a good apartment in the Romanian capital Bucharest is around £50,000. A flat in a ski resort in Transylvania can be had for slightly less, and if you want a fixer-upper in the mountains you can buy a shabby villa for around £20,000. Again, there are risks, particularly as the estate agency industry in Romania has some way to go before it reaches the standards of its Eastern European neighbours, let alone those of the West, according to FOPDAC (the Federation of Overseas Property Developers, Agents and Consultants). FOPDAC counsels caution when looking at Romania, and warns investors not to expect a dream house for £5000, as some press reports have suggested.

The former war-torn nation of Croatia is also on the investor’s scope. The country is largely unspoiled, with around 1000 km of Adriatic coastline and a necklace of picturesque islands offshore. Prices have roughly doubled in the past 3-4 years and are reportedly still going up, as Croatia prepares to join the EU. In historic Dubrovnik - a stunning city by the sea - property is no longer cheap. A 2 bedroom apartment with pleasant views, near the beach and the Old Town, costs around £130,000. If you venture further along the coast, you can buy a two-storey seaside house on the Peljesac Peninsula, about 90 minutes from Dubrovnik, for about the same price. For something less costly, head to the popular Split region, where new developments are going up by the beach. You can buy a seaside apartment here from around £50,000.

Slovenia is another unspoiled location which is becoming a popular destination for discerning tourists. The country has attracted investors since it joined the EU and passed a new law allowing foreigners to buy property. Prices had already risen ahead of EU accession, as canny Slovenes invested in the market, but values are still low compared to the UK. The historic capital of Ljubljana and holiday resorts on the coast and in the mountains are the top choices. A 2-bedroom apartment in the ski resort of Kranjska Gora can be had for around £100,000, while a 1-bedroom ski apartment in Bovec costs from around £50,000. Property in the Prekmurje area and along the Italian/Slovene border has become more popular since Ryan Air opened up new routes here. You can buy a very pretty, stone-built 3-bedroom property in a picturesque village near the Italian border for around £140,000.

The Languedoc-Roussillon region of France is no longer undiscovered, but it still has lovely untouched corners, and represents the best-value you can get on the southern French coast. Ryan Air’s cheap routes to Montpellier, Perpignan and Carcassonne have contributed to the rise in property values, bringing waves of British tourists and second home buyers into the area for a few pounds a flight.

Languedoc-Roussillon has a long string of sandy seaside resorts, many of which have lagoons just inland - knee deep in pink flamingos - as well as marinas or fishing ports. Along the rocky stretch of coast known as the Côte Vermeille are pretty seaside towns backed by cliffs and coves.

Although prices are high in the most fashionable Languedoc resorts, such as La Grande Motte and Cap d'Agde, you can still find bargains in lesser known coastal towns such as Port Leucate, which sits between the sea and a lagoon, and has one-bedroom coastal chalets from around £40,000. You can pick up a studio apartment within strolling distance of the beach in Marseillan Plage, or overlooking the marina at Le Canet, for around £50,000

On the shores of Roussillon take a look at Saint-Cyprien - a resort centred on an historic village - where you can buy a one-bedroom flat with port view from around £70,000. In Argeles sur Mer, which has sandy beaches and rocky coves, a pretty seaside apartment with views and a pool costs under £100,000.

Inland, less than £50,000 will buy you a well-located studio flat in the centre of trendy Montpellier, a fully renovated village house in the Minervois wine region, or a vineyard with fixer-upper in the Pyrenees near Perpignan. If you have around £100,000 to spend, you could take your pick from a detached villa north of the stunning medieval citadel of Carcassonne, a 2-bedroom flat in a 19th century Montpellier townhouse, or a 3 to 4-bedroom stone-built village house close to any one of the pretty historic towns in the region.