For every analyst who says the Spanish property market is dead, another states that it is only slumbering. Some have suggested that the market is a busted flush for investors, with falling prices and overdevelopment meaning the good times are over after the recent boom years.
Others have noted that Spain remains a popular place with buyers, many of whom are as much if not more interested in enjoying a bit of the sunshine lifestyle than making money, while at the same time long-termists could reason that the market will eventually pick up again, meaning any bargains bought now will be worth plenty more in a few years’ time.
In examining the evidence, the latter issues are worth bearing in mind. Evidence of where and what people are buying cannot be distilled into investors and lifestyle buyers, while long-term intentions may be hard to read.
Even so, the evidence of property portal searches is that Spain is still the place more people in Britain look than any other. Publishing its list of the 101 places that the most online prospective buyer attention is paid to, (of which nine out of ten account for less than one per cent each) Spanish property accounts for 10.84 per cent, well ahead of second-placed France on 4.58 per cent. Add to this the separately listed Costa Blanca, Tenerife, Murcia, Mallorca, Marbella and Torrevieja (among others) and the figure rises further.
