Will property buyers will come for real estate in Spain in 2017 ?

What should we expect for the Spanish property market in 2017?

The sales of new build property in Spain in 2016 confirms the recovery of the sector and overall for the Spanish property market. We wonder what will happen next.

These are the questions that professionals in the sector, but especially buyers, are asking themselves.

The best news about the Spanish property market in 2016 has been the total absence of drama.

Some may point to the steady growth in prices for calm, but professional market watchers are not looking at sale prices; they are looking at transactions. Did people buy and sell houses in Spain in 2016?

The good news is that yes, they did.

Sales in Spain have increased dramatically in 2016, with land registrations to date experiencing a 15% increase on the previous year and ten consecutive quarters of growth. If you are looking for an exact date, this means that the Spanish property crash officially ended in the second quarter of 2014 – and we haven’t looked back since.

Even more remarkable is that this is happening while the Spanish economy has remained weak, with stubbornly high unemployment, the credit crunch and a period with almost no government.

In a normal housing market, almost nothing like this would happen.

But the Spanish housing market has two unusual advantages: first, it could only go up. The 2008 crisis completely destroyed the Spanish housing market, and only a zombie apocalypse could have sent it even lower.

Spain’s second advantage is its international attractiveness. With one in five properties sold to foreign buyers, the market can withstand a weakness in local demand. British, French, German, Dutch, Belgian, Italian and Swedish buyers continue to fill the gap.

The mystery of Brexit

It was not strange that the surprising British decision to leave the European Union dominated the year’s negotiations. With foreign demand for homes in Spain dominated by the British, this would mean the end of the Spanish market recovery, wouldn’t it?

Only that the collapse envisaged by some has not actually happened.

There was initial doubt when searches for Spanish property peaked after the UK vote, up over 50% on 2015. But the reality is that buyers may be talking about the Brexit, but most are still looking for a home in Spain.

While these are good indicators of things to come, it is true that they do not confirm the sales that have been made. So what’s up with the shockingly slow official statistics? Same story: Spain’s third quarter property register figures show sales peaks close to historical maximums.

Is the UK housing crisis good news for Spain?

The UK property market is moribund now with prices unaffordable for most people, and transactions at historically low levels. The winners of this situation are older Brits who are on a goldmine in property form (while being a homeowner becomes a distant dream for their children).

In short, British buyers over 50 who love Spain are sitting on huge piles of equity and the Brexit has not diminished their wealth.

That leaves very little grass for the market guessers, except perhaps a slowdown in quarterly sales growth for UK buyers. With other nationalities on the rise, British market foundations remain in good shape.

Prices, prices, prices

There are headwinds. Leaving aside speculation about Brexit, Trump or Eurovision election fraud, only there was one tangible change in 2016: The value of the pound.

The purchasing power of the largest group of foreign buyers from Spain fell in June, and the British are now 10% poorer.

This has already caused a shift in both buyers’ searches as well as in the official sales figures for the third quarter. British buyers are hunting for value for money, and Spanish destinations with higher prices and a high proportion of British buyers are likely to see a more complex sales environment in Spanish property in 2017. It is increasingly clear that their loss in this area is the gain of destinations with lower prices (see Almería).

In this situation, we must learn a lesson from the Crash of 2008 for Real Estate in Spain in 2017.

In 2008, it took only one year for the sale of Spanish houses to fall by more than 50%, but prices took four years to adjust to this reality. The lack of market transparency (and sellers clinging to unrealistic values) has prolonged the pain.

This has left us waiting until 2014 to begin the recovery.

We should not repeat the mistakes of the past. If there is a downturn due to Brexit, property developers and sellers should adjust prices quickly. Supply and demand is inevitable.

Click for the Sun is determined to play its part, and has made great strides this year to find more property in Spain in 2017 to increase the supply of new build properties to our clients. We believe that better information for buyers and sellers creates a more transparent market, and transparent markets are more active markets.

Ultimately, honesty sells more homes.

Places to consider for Real Estate in Spain in 2017

For this year’s prediction, we based our selection on two key indicators. Firstly, we took a look at completed sales (through the publication of property register statistics in Spain). We also used data searches through Google as a future indicator of buyer sentiment. Finally, we also took into account the international mix of buyers in each destination, and the relative prices of properties.

On this basis, our top picks for Spanish property in 2017 are:

1. Almería

Having been much less developed than its neighbouring regions, Almería retains an authentic Spanish charm that has proven to be highly valued by almost all nationalities of European buyers. Sales in the third quarter were up 93%, with an average price of 129,000 euros, almost half the national average.

Bungalow in Mar de Pulpí from €86,000

Almeria is charming, well connected and very affordable. We hope that many foreign buyers will discover it with us in 2017.

2. Alicante

Les investisseurs internationaux achètent plus de maisons à Alicante chaque année que toute autre province en Espagne, entraînant plus de la moitié de toutes les transactions de logement. Bien que cela puisse le rendre sensible aux chocs, ses points forts sont difficiles à battre: d’excellentes connexions, des plages fabuleuses, la croissance soutenue des ventes et des prix de 10-15% de moins que la moyenne nationale .

La région d’Alicante est un joueur solide, et il est très difficile de parier contre.

3. Murcia 

La région de Murcia a un attractif très intéressante a niveau sportif , culturel , gastronomique et les prix de Immobilier en Espagne en 2017 seront très intéressant.