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Spain still strong - 13 February 2008

Despite the negative press, Spain’s property market could be changing for the better.

That the property market in Spain faces changes is well known; the last few years saw a major boom which had to slow in the end and finally did in the last year. The country, like most, has had to face up to the credit crunch. In addition to this, there has been the bad publicity over cases of homes which - unbeknown to their new owners - had been built illegally either due to lack of licenses or problems of location and design.

Yet at the same time, there will always be new opportunities, new developments and new possibilities, Paul Collins, overseas editor of property magazine Buy Association, has said.

Mr Collins stated: "Spain will always be popular with British overseas buyers - we love going there for various reasons; the lifestyle, the weather, its just one of the favourite tourist destinations. Consequently, it is always going to be popular."

The market had changed, he acknowledged, with many investors now looking to other locations where they might get higher returns. But, he suggested, this also carried higher risk levels. On the other hand, he believed the fact that more of the properties being bought in Spain by Britons are now for emigration or holiday home purposes will have a stabilising effect on the market.

He commented: "In future, this leads to a more stable market and people might not be getting the kind of capital growth that was happening in the last five years or so."

So, he stated, some investors might choose to look elsewhere, but the quid pro quo was an increased chance they could end up with their fingers burned. He concluded: "Spain still offers some really good investment opportunities."

For people seeking opportunities, a couple of new factors might play a part. One is the continued increase in tourist numbers, which could interest those looking at investing in property in the holiday rental sector. Eyeonspain.com reported last week that Spain's tourist board has just revealed a 1.7 per cent increase in visitor numbers in 2006 to 59.2 million.

Of these, Britons made up nearly half the total at 27 million, while 24 million of the overall total came by low-cost airline, a 34 per cent rise on 2006. With such trends in evidence investors may wish to look at which areas are likely to see the introduction of new low-cost routes.

Some specific locations already have transport enhancements. For instance, English language news website Think Spain has reported that plans are afoot for a high-speed rail link between Barcelona and Malaga.

The tourist potential is obvious - making it possible for tourists to travel between the two centres in just five hours without having to change in Madrid and therefore making it possible for visitors to combine sunning themselves in a southern beach resort and head north to the city of Catalan culture and modernista architecture in the same trip. Both cities may benefit as a result.

So while Spain may indeed be changing, some of that change may just be opening up the exciting investment opportunities of the future.

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