Spain remains in top spot for potential British buyers

Spain remains resolutely in the number one slot for buyers viewing overseas property on leading global portal PropertyIndex.com, showing the British love affair with the Costas is far from over.

Spanish property dominates the league tables of people not only viewing properties on the site, but also enquiring about specific properties and filling in their contact details, which can be classed as more serious potential buyers. Spain beat France into second place, followed by Portugal, Turkey and Bulgaria in February 2009.

The average price of properties viewed in Spain was £211,343 in February 2009, compared to £235,223 in February 2008 - an annual price drop of approximately 10%. Spain remains considerably more affordable than its closest rival, France, where the average price of property viewed is currently £441,252.

Costa Blanca tops the poll

The most popular destination in Spain was the Costa Blanca, home to tourist hotspots Alicante and Brits' favourite Benidorm, closely followed by Tenerife in the popular Canary Islands and the Costa del Sol in third place.

Lee Bramzell, Chief Executive of PropertyIndex.com said: “The British love affair with Spain is far from over, and our data suggests that when we emerge from the recession, it will be the first place on the list for Brits wanting to buy holiday homes and investment properties overseas. While property sale volumes remain low, there is no doubt that the British are keeping a beady eye on the Spanish market, waiting for the right buying opportunity. I expect to see considerable pent up demand when the economy recovers.

“Tourism in the country remains strong and sensible Brits already owning property in Spain will be aiming to maximise their rental income over the coming months while they wait for the market to stabilise. New buyers can get a real bargain - official data shows house price falls in the region of 3%, but in reality reductions are much greater than this. We are seeing some developers offering discounts of as much as 40% on some schemes. This more than compensates for the strength of the Euro which we expect to weaken against the pound throughout 2009."