Bulgaria has made it to the thirteenth spot in a new ranking of property markets, which remain popular for foreign mortgages among Britons.

The Bulgarian market has attracted 1.3% of the searches for properties abroad at the site of Rightmove Overseas in January, while their number increased by 40,5% over December.

Britons continue to be attracted most by the idea of taking out a foreign mortgage for a property in Spain, the ranking shows.

Australia, New Zealand and Canada have recorded the highest increases in the searches for properties on the site, up by a whopping 114%, 91% and 80%.

"We're still seeing healthy traffic and interest for quality properties, particularly in more authentic areas; smaller towns, inland locations and less resort style apartments," Robin Wilson, head of overseas at Rightmove, said.

Owning a second home abroad was once the preserve of the super-wealthy, but in the past decade a heady combination of TV property shows and cheap mortgages has convinced an estimated half a million Britons to buy their own place in the sun.

The value of UK-owned foreign property investments peaked at GBP 58 B in 2008, up from GBP 10 B in 2000.

Recently however British owners of second homes overseas have been selling up due to falling rental income and weakness of sterling.

The number of Britons, who have put up their property in Bulgaria for sale, nearly doubled in 2009 over 2010, data of realtor Bulgarian Properties show.

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