With the financial sector opening up in many locations, mortgages are increasingly easier to obtain, therefore a very important factor for many is the rental potential of their property and the shortterm return they can expect to receive. The fact that many developers offer rental guarantees as standard is evidence to this.

In order to determine the top rental destinations the website Holiday-Rentals. co. uk has compiled data on which locations showed the highest consumer demand for rental accommodation during the Summer of 2006.

Spain a perennial favourite The research found that Spain had stayed the perennial favourite but things are beginning to shift in the traditional favourite. Instead of the Costas, Barcelona, Spain's second largest city, was the topperforming destination for holiday home rentals this Summer.

The researchers report that "Spain remained a popular choice, but continued to experience a reduction in the number of sun and beach holidays and a shift towards more 'cultural tourism'." Barcelona saw a 21% rise in demand for properties while the number of properties available rose by 17%.

Dubai ranks second Behind Barcelona, Dubai was the second most popular rental choice, followed closely by Italy, then the Canary Islands and finally England, "an indication, " say the researchers, "that more people chose more tried and tested destinations, or a holiday closer to home this Summer".

Despite the fact that the site's number of properties available in Dubai increased by 200%, it attracted 1.5 times the site average number of enquiries and the total number of enquiries received increased by a massive 89% showing that while construction is still strong, rental demand and the tourism industry is keeping pace.

Italy: Conde Nast's favourite Italy, which was recently voted "favourite country" in the influential Conde Nast Readers Awards, was ranked third and saw the number of enquiries go up by 58% in the last year. The regions that performed particularly well included Venice, Lombardy, Campania, Rome and Sicily, which all experienced a significant rise in the number of enquiries per property compared to 2005.

Canary Islands enquiries up The Canary Islands came in at fourth with rental properties in the islands experiencing 1.41 times the site average number of enquiries even though the overall number of available properties increased by 61%.

The British are one of the biggest renter markets, but soaring temperatures in the UK during the summer seems to have convinced renters to stay at home rather than go in search of foreign heat. Therefore rather surprisingly England ranked fifth on the list and saw a 74% rise in enquiries.

"The fact that Barcelona, Venice and Rome have continued to be popular with renters throughout the summer reinforces the fact that today's travellers are looking for more than just sun, sea and sand. Hence buy-to-lets in city centres are becoming an increasingly popular and lucrative option for investors, " says Ross McGowan, Sales Director for Holiday-Rentals. co. uk.

Despite strong competition from eastern Europe McGowan believes renters and investors alike have been attracted to tried and tested favourites, such as the Canaries, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus and Portugal, whose stable political and economic climates proved popular with holidaymakers.