Top 5 Spanish Hot Spots for Bargains in 2014
Madrid
Although the property market in Madrid suffered as much as the rest of the country at the time of the crash experts are now beginning to turn their attentions to the Spanish capital, touting it as one of the most attractive cities in which to buy real estate. The centre of Madrid seems to be more resistant to the price fall compared with the rest of Spain[1] and when the ‘bad bank’ Sareb begins to sell off its assets, analysts expect that the capital will emerge as a market with a ‘great future’ and some ‘very competitive prices’. Madrid, then, is potentially a highly profitable market, however opinion remains divided with regard to the best time to buy property in the capital.
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Barcelona
While house prices in Barcelona declined sharply by around 35% after the crash[2], analysts are reporting that the property market in the Catalonian city has bottomed out and that investors who have been closely observing prices in Barcelona have started to buy up discounted real estate in prime areas of the city[3]. In the best areas of the city it is possible to buy property for half of the price that it was prior to the crash, making Barcelona a highly attractive area for investment as the Spanish property market begins to recover[4].
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Marbella
The property market in Marbella suffered a considerable downturn following the crash, with prices dipping by between 20 and 50%. The market is now beginning to recover well in Marbella: demand for property in the town is high and experts are hopeful that the tentative recovery that began in 2011 could become a full-blown recovery by 2015 if the market continues on the upward trajectory that it is currently exhibiting[5]. Yet despite the high interest in Marbella real-estate, property prices are still around 20% lower than they were pre-crash, making the property market in this seafront town a potentially lucrative one for prospective buyers[6].
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Canary Islands
Although not immune to the crash, property prices fell by less of a margin than those across mainland Spain: -24.5% compared with average falls of 37.2% on the Iberian peninsula[7]. Remaining a ‘hotspot’ for overseas investors, property prices on the Canary Islands have registered an increase of around 3% in the first quarter of 2013, even as prices continued to fall in mainland Spain. These gradual but indisputable signs of recovery are certainly encouraging, making property on the Canary Islands a potentially excellent investment opportunity[8].
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Costa Blanca
Following the sharp downturn that occurred in the region after the crash, there is property to be had in this established tourist hotspot at considerably discounted prices: it is possible, for example, to purchase a two-bed apartment for €55,000 (around £47, 355). Purchasing on the Costa Blanca at these prices is certainly something to consider - after all, as Richard Way, the editor of the Overseas Guides Company notes: ‘how much lower can prices in an established resort go?’[9]. Buying real estate here, then, could represent a prudent investment as the market begins to recover.
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1 Pierre Alban-Walters ‘Is It the Right Time to Buy an Apartment in Madrid?’ (12th July 2013) Moving2Madrid .
2 Nina Roberts, ‘House-hunting in Barcelona’ (24th April 2013), New York Times .
3 ‘Has the Barcelona market bottomed out?’ (18th February 2013) A Place in the Sun .
4 Cavaglieri & Knight ‘Cheap Prices Put Spanish Property Prices Back on the Map’ (20th July 2013), The Independent .
5 Pia Arrieta, ‘Rise in demand for Marbella properties expected to continue’ (26th August 2013) Diana Morales Properties.
6 ‘Marbella Property Market Fuelled by Foreign Investment’, (2nd Sept. 2013) Premier Property International .
7 ‘April house price rises for Spain’s Balearic and Canary Islands’ (19th May 2013), Easier Property .
8 ‘Property Prices Rise 3% In The Canaries’ (10th July 2013) HomesLanzarote.com .
9 Cavaglieri & Knight
