We buy property for many different reasons - traditionally, of course, we tended to buy houses to act as homes. They were purely places where we'd live - we often expected to spend our entire lives in one house.

Times have changed. Property is now seen as a great investment - we can buy property with the expectation of it rising in value. Many of us can now dream of owning our own property portfolio, whether at home or abroad. Indeed, we can also dream of buying a second home or a holiday home overseas.

In this article we take a look at some property hotspots - locations where the housing market has performed strongly and that would also allow you to enjoy a great lifestyle.

Our first choice might surprise some. We think that Bulgaria offers some great potential returns on investment, with house prices having almost doubled in some areas in the last five years. Many speculators are looking to the Black Sea resorts to buy excellent properties, particularly the Golden Sands and Albena. The ski resorts (such as Bansko and Borovetz) offer some great rental returns. Additionally, the major cities such as the capital Sofia, Varna and Plovdiv offer great investment potentials.

As Bulgaria's economy has been developing, it's links with the rest of Europe have also improved. Bulgaria was recently given admission to the European Union and also benefits from some vastly improved transport links, including cheap flights to some leading western European cities.

Our second choice as a property hotspot is maybe less surprising - the United Kingdom. The UK's property market continues to defy many experts, with property prices rising at an annual rate of approximately 10%. Although London prices are now extremely high (possibly too high for many US investors given the relative strength of the dollar) there are plenty of investment opportunities close to the capital.

Some leading areas are Basingstoke, Woking, Winchester, Salisbury, Oxford and the commuter towns of Essex.

With a highly developed and regulated property market (relatively speaking), the UK does offer some great investment opportunities for overseas investors.

For those wishing to take a bigger risk with their property investment (in the hope of seeing higher returns), the developing market of Brazil offers some opportunities. Though the housing market is in its relatively early stages, Brazil does have some great benefits, including a very appealing climate and some low-level entry prices. It may offer a particular gap in the investment market for American investors, given their close proximity to Brazil when compared to Europeans.

We hope we've given you a taster of some of the world's leading property opportunities. Good luck with your future investments!