Is Property in Spain still a good investment?
January 13th, 2008 . by adminFor the last 30 years or so the British and many other European’s have been heading to Spain not only for their summer holidays, but also in order to investment their hard earned cash into the property market there. In recent years it has been one of the hotest countries to invest in, and I’m not only talking about the weather.
In the last 12 months or so, there have been rumours of a downturn and talk of a slump in the property market and of many investors looking elsewhere for better opportunities of capital growth.
I have lived in Spain for a few years now and have worked within real estate so can testify that a lot of agents are now starting to feel the pinch, but there are lots of official stats and figures that are still indicating that Spain is still the most popular destination for property investment and for emigration among the British.
In a recent report the Natwest bank reported that some 9 million Brits would like to move abroad and that around 50% of these still favour Spain as their number one choice of likely destinations. Most cite the reasons for their move as the weather and a more relaxed lifestyle.
So the question is, Is property in Spain still a good long term investment for the property investor?
Well there is no doubt that prices are at an all time high in many areas, especially in some of the Costas such as the Costa del Sol and the Costa Blanca, but there are still some great bargains out there.
There are many owners that are desperate to sell for one reason or another and who are willing to take a big drop in the asking price in order to sell their properties, some of which have been on the market for years.
Then there is the offplan option. There have been many scare stories in recent months of the illegal developments and the Marbella scandal but if done correctly with the aid of a good English speaking lawyer, you can still take this route and purchase a cheap offplan property in the hope that in a couple of years you can sell it on for a tidy profit.
There are a lot of up and coming areas in Southern Spain that are becoming more and more popular such as the Costa de Almeria which is served well by Almeria international airport and also that of Murcia. There are lots of routes into the UK and the rest of Europe and is why the region is now tempting investors away from the more established Costa’s.
All in all, Spain is still an excellent long term investment for people looking for capital growth.