Property execs eye second homes in Europe, Africa

LONDON (Reuters) - Global real estate markets may be in the worst shape seen for generations, but the dream of owning a second home lives on.

We asked guests at Reuters Global Real Estate Summit to tell us where they would like to buy a vacation residence or city bolthole, and continental Europe and Africa topped the list.

ALDAR PROPERTIES ALDR.AD - John Bullough, chief executive

"I think probably Clerkenwell (north London). I think that's where my wife would like to live."

AXA REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT (AXAF.PA) - Steve Smith, head of transactions and asset management

"I nearly bought one in Brazil, but my wife pointed out that it rains for six months a year there, so we didn't. I would probably buy somewhere in New York or Paris, somewhere quite traditional."

CITI PROPERTY INVESTORS (C.N) - Roger Orf, president

"Florida is especially cheap. South California I like more but the flight is even longer. Here? (In Europe) Sardinia is my favorite place, I would look there."

DAMAC PROPERTIES - Peter Riddoch, chief executive

"We have a number of properties but our prime second home is also in this country (the UK)."

EUROHYPO - Max Sinclair, head of UK lending

"I am a real Francophile so if I were to by another second home, I will buy somewhere in France ... maybe the south-west."

HENDERSON GLOBAL INVESTORS - Mike Sales, head of property investments

"Portugal -- east or west of the Algarve -- I am looking at a piece of land there with a couple of friends because it is a quarter of the price of the Algarve."

KNIGHT FRANK - Peter Welborn, head of Africa

"I would buy a vacation home in Malawi. The people of Malawi are such great people. It's an interesting location. It is influenced by the lakes, the animals, by the people."

LSR GROUP - Igor Levit, chief executive

"I don't need a second property. But if I were looking for one, I would buy one right here, in the northwest of Russia, or maybe somewhere on the Mediterranean."

UNION INVESTMENT REAL ESTATE AG - Reinhard Kutscher, chairman

"I would buy a farmhouse in Namibia in Africa. It's a beautiful country -- well-structured and well-organized with beautiful countryside -- and really different from most places that I know."

(Reporting by Sinead Cruise, Daryl Loo, Cecilia Valente and Jason Benham; Editing by Andrew Macdonald)