British still one of biggest buyers of property in Spain

Figures show that British expatraites and property investors were the biggest buyers of Spanish property buying a total of 4'350 properties last year with the French following behind buying 1'627 homes in comparison.

Undeniably, the recent credit crisis led to a subduing of the market and a realignment of prices but the recovery is believed to be underway with a 4.4% rise in property sales to foreigners last year.

Although British buyers are still the biggest players in the market, last year also saw a rise in demand from Northern Europeans, with a 102% increase in Swedish demand and a 58% increase in Norwegian demand for Spanish property. “It is undoubtedly good news that international demand for homes in Spain is getting more diversified. The holiday home market used to be far too dependent upon British buyers, which was a risk that many promoters and the banks lending to them failed to understand. “With the process of international diversification sales should slowly start to increase,” said Mark Stucklin, managing director of Spanish Property Insight.

The Spanish government has recently been trying to lure more British property buyers to buy in the country by providing more information in English to ensure buyers are accurately informed of any legal issues connected with a property.