There’s no denying that the Spanish economy has been suffering recently. Banking losses resulting in the Iberian nation asking for help to recapitalise its banks has caused concern and aided a decline in property prices but for bargain property hunters, it isn’t all doom and gloom.
While investment house Variant Perception reports that parts of Spain have seen prices drop by as much as 50% from their peak, Marc Pritchard, Sales and Marketing Manager of leading Spanish house builder Taylor Wimpey España believes that there remains plenty of opportunities to capitalise off the back of low prices commenting:
“In spite of Spain’s current situation there are some big opportunities for shrewd property hunters right now. Property investors will not only benefit from the fact that Spanish property is currently around 33% lower than it was during its peak in 2008 but from growing tourism, which saw a 2.6% increase in the first few months of this year. Indeed, cheaper prices along with a particularly favourable euro rate means that Spanish property is an extremely worthwhile consideration as long as potential buyers ensure that they do thorough research first to avoid getting burnt.
“Further boosting the case for buying a second property in Spain today, research conducted by Holiday Lettings has revealed that Spanish property continues to dominate the holiday rental market with strong demand for apartments and villas in Spain in the first three months of 2012.
Pritchard explains,
“Demand for second homes in Spain has not been broken. Properties in prime locations are now more readily available to potential buyers given low prices and, considering the unfaltering love for Spain as a holiday destination, Spanish property owners will still be able to obtain a solid return on a relatively low-cost investment.
“For anyone dubious about how the market is performing we at Taylor Wimpey de España, the only developer on the Costa del Sol actively building and selling and the only developer building and selling larger developments in Mallorca have been experiencing great success of late. Not only has traffic taken a positive turn with a 15% increase from May until now, reaching its highest level ever last week but both leads and sales are up. Just two weeks ago we made 4 sales – our strongest performance so far this year. Indeed, our biggest success story has to be our complete sell out recently in just 13 months of our off plan development at Cala Anguila, Mallorca. Our positive results highlight that in spite of what is going on in Spain right now, buyer interest still remains solid. “
