The Spanish market has hit the bottom and is beginning to roar again, driven by the return of international buyers, many of which have been snapping up properties with sterling, dollars, krona or dirham and capitalizing on the weak euro.
Prices remain well below their 2007 peak values in many areas, and the vast amount of over-supply in coastal resorts is gradually being reduced, whilst the new-build sector has sprung back into life on the Costa del Sol and Costa Blanca.
In fact the Spanish construction industry is the fastest growing in Europe and driving the growth of the Spanish economy. No longer do the British predominate so strongly in the international market. One leading developer sold to 30 different nationalities last year, with American and Middle Eastern interest strong.
Most of the overseas buyers are in the Alicante region (covering the Costa Blanca) that absorbed almost 40 per cent of total purchases made by foreign buyers in Spain, according to the National Statistics Institute. But the Costa del Sol is nearly as popular, with buyers flocking to the ever-fashionable Marbella area, but other hot markets also include Barcelona and south-west Majorca. Do check out our guide to the different Costas on page 54 if you are not sure where to go!
The strongest price band has risen from last year and seems to be around €115,000-€200,000 with buyers seizing the best buying opportunities in a decade to obtain an apartment or small villa close the coast to which they can retire to eventually. Relatively high purchase costs on their Spanish home can be to set by the low ongoing property taxes, a lower cost of living and letting potential.
