Some 51 per cent of City workers will invest their bonuses in overseas sectors such as the Florida property market in 2007, according to a new survey...

A quarter of the professionals polled by Populus for Pure International said they have a budget of more than £500,000 to spend, with average salaries standing at £331,000 and bonuses expected to reach £294,000.

Over half of the City workers surveyed already owned at least one property in sectors such as the Florida real estate market and 29 per cent said these homes accounted for at least half their investment portfolio.

The US was the second most popular option for respondents, with 23 per cent naming it as their choice, after France (28 per cent) and ahead of Italy (21 per cent) and Spain (19 per cent).

Beach properties most popular

Sean Collins, managing director of Pure International, said:

"With a predicted pool of £8.8billion [according to the Centre for Economics and Business Research] to be awarded in bonus money this year and 51 per cent of our respondents aiming to invest a significant proportion of their payouts in international property, we can expect to see a significant boost to the sector."

Beach properties were the most popular option, with 41 per cent of respondents favouring these, followed by homes in ski resorts (31 per cent).

Among under-35s, 31 per cent would choose an urban residence, compared to 15 per cent of those over 35.