Property Market in Spain

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Spain’s property market crumbled at the height of the financial crisis, sending property prices spiralling. But after years of the market being depressed, it’s starting to pick up, with Knight Frank reporting a rise of 1.2 per cent in Spanish property prices from the third quarter of 2014 to the third quarter of 2015, and Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, indicating that they increased by 4.5 per cent over the comparable period.

Meanwhile, market research agency Standard & Poor’s, expects house prices to rise by 2.5 per cent over the next year, thanks to ultra-low interest rates, and this is leading to renewed optimism among potential buyers.

Combine this with the stronger pound, and you can see why buyers are returning in their droves. With buyers’ budgets stretching that much further, a property in Spain could seem even more tempting, especially when you compare the cost with overheated parts of the UK market. The British are still the biggest group of foreign buyers but they no longer dominate as they did in the boom, according to Spanish Property Insight. The market today is much more diversified, which is positive news for Spain.

And the growing presence of US, Russian and Chinese buyers is a sign that the Golden Investment Visa initiative, which was introduced in September 2013 and offers residency permits to non-EU nationals in return for an investment of €500,000 or more in Spanish property, may be starting to have an effect.

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