Spain and the real estate market

Spain is a diverse country sharing the Iberian Peninsula with Portugal at the western end of the Mediterranean Sea. It is the country with the second-largest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, after Italy, and the largest number of World Heritage Cities.

Spain is considered an exotic country in Europe due to its friendly inhabitants, relaxed lifestyle, its cuisine, vibrant nightlife, and world-famous folklore and festivities. Among many places worth visiting are Spain's thriving capital Madrid, the vibrant coastal city of Barcelona, major Andalusian cities with Islamic architecture, like Seville, Granada and Córdoba, the idyllic Balearic and Canary Islands.

Spain joined the EU in 1986 and gave Spain a dynamic and rapidly growing economy and made it a global champion of freedom and human rights. More recently the government has focused on measures to reverse a severe economic recession that began in mid-2008. Austerity measures implemented to reduce a large budget deficit and reassure foreign investors have led to one of the highest unemployment rates in Europe. See map over Spain.

Property market

Spanish property remains the favourite investment market for overseas property buyers. Due to a large supply of properties from years ago, the pricing today is still fair and you get good value for your money. But the prices are slowly going up, it varies on the location.
The Spanish property market provides buyers the ideal destination in which to re-locate or purchase a second or holiday home. It also offers a valuable profit generating asset to ever-increasing numbers of worldwide property investors.

Spain as a location is in high demand because it of course enjoys a year-round warm climate and stunning beaches. In addition, the huge amount of competition among low cost airlines makes it easier and cheaper to travel to and from Spain than to almost any other destination.
With an already booming tourist industry, and holiday trends moving away from travel agent bookings towards direct online holiday accommodation transactions, Spanish real estate supplies a demand for excellent buy to let investment options where real estate investors can generate highly profitable rental yields from letting their Spanish properties.

The Spanish real estate market offers a huge variation in prices and styles: good value, sought after country properties, seaside apartments and villas or luxury multi-million coastal villas. The price of a Spanish home is an accepted price of the seller. In Spain, it is unusual bidding, rather than doing business with the seller, the buyer is willing to pay the asking price or lower price agreed by negotiation.