Property buyers say ‘Si, Si’ to the Spanish Sea

The latest ‘Hotspots Report’ from currency exchange specialist HiFX reveals that Spain is still as popular as ever when it comes to Britons buying holiday homes abroad. You might have thought that over 40 years on from the building boom begun in the 1960s we would have fulfilled our desire for the sun, sea and sand offered by Spain’s Costa’s but new independent data from Spanish property portal, Kyero.com, reveals that 71% of all visitor activity by potential Spanish property buyers is still focused on the traditional coastal areas.

The most popular provinces (% of total visitor activity as calculated by Kyero.com’s Popularity Trends between March and May 07) are Granada (18%), Alicante (15%), Malaga (10%), Valencia (10%), Almeria (9%) and Tarragona (9%); together they total 71% of all visitor activity. These provinces are home to the well known coastal regions of Spain including the Costa del Sol, Costa Blanca, Costa del Azahar, Costa Calida and Costa Daurada.

As well as accounting for 9% of visitor interest, Almeria province is the fastest growing province seeing a 1.6% increase in popularity relative to the rest of Spain. Average property prices in this south eastern province are currently €198,000, 21% below the national average property price of €250,000 and over 5% below average prices in the neighbouring province of Murcia according to the Kyero Spanish House Price Index.

Martin Dell, MD of Kyero.com, comments, “Almeria province really has come into its own in the last couple of years. Property buyers have been slow to recognise the beauty and unspoilt nature of this province but improvements to the infrastructure and low property prices are attracting more and more buyers each year.”

It is not only Almeria province which saw a popularity increase, Valencia province on Spain’s eastern coast increased in popularity by a significant 1.4% dispelling myths that confidence in this local market due to issues such as land grab has been dented. Average property prices in this province remain 11% below national average at €222,000.

In contrast neighbouring province Alicante, home to the largest number of Britons living in Spain, saw the largest decline in popularity at 1.8% suggesting that property buyers are no longer attracted to ‘England in the sun’ as they once were but are seeking a more traditional Spanish lifestyle. A decline of 1.4% was also seen in the province of Malaga, home to the Los Angeles of Europe, Marbella. Property prices in Alicante are averaging just above the national price at €254,000 and in Malaga province they have soared to €310,000, 24% above the national average. High property prices such as these might indicate why there is a decline of interest, as well as concerns over corruption and over development, especially as the most common budget visitors on www.kyero.com have is between €50,000 and €150,000.

It can be fair to say that whilst the majority of visitor interest is in the traditional costas interest is slowly declining and provinces located inland and to the north are benefiting. Badajoz province in the far west of Spain has seen a 0.4% increase in popularity over the last 3 months as has Teruel located inland from Tarragona with a 0.3% increase. Similarly Coruna and Lugo provinces in the far north west of Spain have seen popularity increases of 0.4% and 0.2% respectively.

Martin Dell comments, “We have seen a shift in the both the number of properties available in the inland and northern provinces as well as the amount of visitor interest in these areas. Increased accessibility from the UK to regional airports combined with low average property prices, €89,000 in Badajoz province for example, is really tempting British buyers.”

For more information about the relative popularity of provinces you are considering purchasing in Spain please visit kyero.com.