Spanish Property

The Spanish property market has been remarkably buoyant for years and is likely to stay that way, buyers from all walks of life and many different countries are attracted to Spanish property both as an investment and for the pleasure of having their own ‘place in the sun’ for holiday purposes. There is also a huge demand for Spanish property for use as living accommodation; there are almost three million foreigners registered as living in Spain most of whom own some sort of property in Spain, plus many more that live in Spain but haven’t registered.

In some areas more Spanish property is sold to foreigners than to the Spanish, in fact there are some areas of Spain that have a higher resident population of foreigners than Spanish. If all those Spanish property owners took an interest in local politics or even stood as councillors there could be foreigners governing part of Spain. Fortunately perhaps, most foreigners who buy Spanish property to live in, do so with the intention of leading a quiet laid back lifestyle.

In many areas of Southern Spain, due to the huge influx of foreign and particularly British owners of Spanish property the larger local shops and supermarkets often have advertising and notices to customers in both Spanish and English. This is a great advantage for all those Brits who don’t learn the language but also further encouragement and the removal of another obstacle for those considering buying Spanish property.

As an investment, Spanish property performs very well; apart from the annual increases in value that never seem to stop and which show good capital appreciation there is also a healthy demand for holiday letting which provides an income at the same time. In mainland Spain this can be seasonal although the ‘season’ in Spain is much longer than in the UK for instance. In the Canary Islands, a Spanish property, the season is virtually all year round. The busiest two weeks of the year for holiday letting of your Spanish property in the Canaries is the Christmas/New Year period.

The rules or buying Spanish property are the same as anywhere else in the world; location, location, location. Whether buying a studio apartment, a beach front villa or a country house it’s important that when buying one should always bear in mind the fact that it may have to be resold and will anyone else want to buy your particular choice of property in Spain. A nightlife lover may not mind being in an apartment above the bars and restaurants as they won’t be using the apartment when the noise is being made but many potential buyers will be deterred from buying that apartment if they’re not night owls themselves. Equally a little country cottage tucked away from everything while being a dream ‘away from it all’ piece of Spanish real estate will not suit the desires of the vast majority of Spanish property buyers.