Hradec Kralove is a name you may not be familiar with, and it may even be difficult to pronounce, but there’s a whole load of reasons to invest there, and we’d like to tell you why.

The regional Czech town is situated around 100 kilometers east of Prague in one of the most picturesque regions of Central Bohemia, and was recently voted “The best place to live in Czech Republic”

The town is a magnate for tourists, attracting nearly 1 million visitors last year, making it one of the most visited destinations in the whole country. And its easy to see why, the town has magnificent Bohemian architecture, a stunning 14^th century cathedral dominating the centre of the town, and an exciting array of bars, restaurants and traditional Czech coffee houses.

The town is easily accessible from Prague by the recently extended D11 motorway which has significantly cut down on commuter time, express trains from all parts of the country stop in the towns main train station, and Hradec Kralove also boasts its own international airport.

The town is a local economic power house with some of the lowest unemployment rates in the Czech Republic (4.5% compared to 5.3 for CZ) and the town managed to attract 737 million Euro’s in FDI in 2007. The region is currently rebranding itself as an IT hub and recent developments have included the science and technology park, the municipal library, and the regeneration of various industrial areas on the outskirts of the town.

The town has an abundance of highly educated graduates due to the fact that there are three universities in the region, there are currently three job applications for every job vacancy, making it an ideal location for large corporations to base themselves. Panasonic is among the corporations to recently invest in the area and set up a plant, as well as major automotive companies like Skoda.

The regions gross domestic product accounts for 4.6% of the Czech republics total, however when converted to GDP per inhabitant it amounts to 86% of the national average, ranking it 6^th in the whole country.

The combination of all these factors has resulted in Hradec Kralove being ranked second in the nation in terms of capital growth with around 41% experienced in 2007 and no signs so far this year that the credit crunch which is currently engulfing most of Europe, will have any effect on this regional Czech town.

As there is currently a limited supply of new real estate, and as the local population takes advantage of the new opportunities, the demand for new housing is set to increase (the new generation of Czech’s are no longer satisfied living in the old communist prefab housing, and their housing demands are now pretty much on par with their western counterparts) This will fuel the capital growth in the region, and also push up rents, thus all investor’s rental yields.