A new year is always the perfect opportunity for a fresh start. You may have already spent the majority of January looking at a place away from the dreary English weather. Despite ongoing uncertainties surrounding Brexit, the end of 2017 saw record numbers of British nationals acting on their dream of making the move abroad, with Spain remaining the most popular destination.
Spain’s Reistradores De Espana (office of national statistics) has released a report which has highlighted just how influential British nationals were on the Spanish property market in 2017. In the third quarter of 2017, British buyers accounted for more property purchases than any other foreign nationals. The number of buyers in Spain was also double the amount of those in neighbouring France (who came in second) – which is a testament to the popularity of Spain.
In 2017, Spain saw a post-summer holidays boost in sales, with the number of British buyers looking to secure a holiday home rising by 28%.
According to Mark Stucklin of Spanish Property Insight, 2017 was a good year for most parts of Spain. He pointed out that sales were up by double digits in most areas in the 12 months to October, down only in the Andalusian province of Almeria.
Good news for those thinking of selling in 2018, prices in Spain have steadily increased, with house prices in November rising by 4%. Year on Year, house prices have risen by 4.1% which is a dramatic difference to last year’s 1.8%.
Agents and builders are also recording positive growth, with an average 13% increase in demand for property in 2017.
This positive growth is expected to continue into 2018, with buyers trying to escape the colder weather and the UK’s upcoming exit from the European Union. With recent statistics showing a 28% increase in UK enquiries and 55% increase in UK buyers, there are even more opportunities to sell your property.
Looking at Murcia, mortgages on properties purchased in Murcia are also positive. Overall the number of mortgage applications have risen by nearly 14%. Figures also show that the average loan capital has dropped by 4.3%, which indicates that nearly 40% of all purchases in 2017 were financed by means of a mortgage. As house prices continue to rise, we would expect to see buyers becoming more reliant on mortgages as a method for financing their purchase in 2018.
