Extraordinary gyrations in the world's currency markets are making the cost of anything bought in the US as much as a fifth cheaper than last year. But the flipside is a big rise in the cost of European holidays.
It's not just holidays that are affected. The phenomenal increase in low-cost flights to Europe has made Britain a nation of second-home owners on the continent. In the first six months of last year Brits bought 74,000 homes in Europe - mostly in France and Spain, although new markets are opening up all the time.
Those who invested early have enjoyed a bonanza. Not only have they enjoyed local price increases - often running at 10-15% a year - but now when they translate the value of their second home into sterling it has become all the more valuable. Conversely, anyone thinking of buying within the euroland area will now have to pay far higher prices in sterling terms.
According to exchange bureau Travelex, the typical British buyer spends around £125,000 on a second home on the continent. A year ago that would have bought a pad for €192,500, but today that sum will only buy you a €178,750 home.
Sterling is currently squashed between the forces pushing down the US dollar (largely due to the country's ballooning deficit and persistently low interest rates) and the newly revitalised euro.
A year ago a pound bought 1.54 euros, but today it buys just 1.43. Meanwhile the slide in the dollar means that today £1 buys $1.82 compared with $1.57 a year ago, a gain of nearly 16%. What's more, many in the City expect the dollar rate to head towards the $2 level, with no respite expected until the next G7 finance ministers meeting which will take place in February.
That meeting will take place in Florida, and many of the visiting European finance ministers will be able to see first hand how much more the euro and sterling is now buying in the US.
One net-based network of UK estate agents, movewithus.co.uk, now expects Florida to be this year's hot destination for second-home buyers from Britain.
Property prices in the Sunshine State start at around £60,000, and prices have been rising locally in dollar terms at around 8% a year.
For example, a $138,000 three-bed, two-bathroom villa in Venetian Bay in central Florida would have cost £88,000 in sterling terms last year but will now set a buyer back just £76,000.
Robin King, director of movewithus, says: "Purchasers are now able to get far more property for their money. These investment opportunities will tempt not only experienced, confident investors but will prompt the more cautious investor to maximise this blip in the performance of the US dollar."
But it's easy to be caught out. Many buyers on the continent have found that the sterling price of that cottage in the Dordogne has shot up between the moment they first saw it and the day they actually hand over the cash to buy it.
Travelex estimates that British property buyers have lost as much as £1.3bn because they failed to hedge against currency risk while going through the legal process of acquiring the property, which can often take several months.
"Individual buyers have lost out to the tune of thousands of pounds during the house purchase period," says Anthony Wagerman of Travelex.
It offers a fixed-price currency service which gives buyers the comfort of knowing exactly how much they are going to pay.
Buyers who open an account with the broker can arrange a forward contract which will fix the exchange rate until an agreed date up to two years in the future. The buyer has to put 10% down immediately and the rest two days prior to completion.
Travelex says the service has proved popular, although users have to be aware they are still taking a position on exchange rates and may lose out if the rate moves in their favour during the house purchase period.
· Travelex is at travelex.co.uk
