Properties in Spain appear to be once again on the move as buyers from abroad believe that prices have finally bottomed out.
Purchasers are also feeling more confident now that the Spanish economy has shown some strong growth. The pound’s 13.5% increase against the euro in the past 12 months also has made property in mainland Europe cheaper for UK buyers.
British buyers form the largest group, encouraged to put their money elsewhere while interest rates remain rock bottom, a record low of 0.5% since 2009. The Brits were followed by French and German investors.
Non-Spaniards spent €6.05 billion on 40,338 Spanish properties in the first nine months of 2014, up 30% from the same period in 2013, according to data from the country’s Ministry of Public Works.
Most popular areas were Valencia, Andalusia and Catalonia.
The property market was stuck with more than one million surplus houses when the credit crunch hit. Average prices fell 42% from their 2007 peak, while coastal area houses fell 50%, according to Tinsa, the country’s largest home appraiser. Declines slowed to 3% last year from 9% in 2013, Tinsa said.
The OECD, however, reported last May that Spanish properties were still overvalued.
Domestic home sales have also increased, going up 2.2% in 2014 to 319,389 properties. This was the first time there has been a rise in purchases since 2010, according to data from the National Statistics Institute. At the peak of sales in 2006, however, the number of properties sold was 955,186.
