Property Investors Staying Away From Spain

It seems that Spain has been out of favour with the Overseas Residential Property Investment crowd for some time now. Even companies and private investors that prey on the distressed property market in general are staying away, despite prices being down between 20 – 40% on previous years in many areas.

“Spain is a very difficult market now” reports Stuart Johnson of Investment Group, Experience International, choosing instead to Invest in the US and other Non-European destinations.

The reasons are mostly down to one thing - no one doubts that people will always buy homes in Spain as a lifestyle choice, but because the market is saturated there is no way to expect any valuable rental income. It’s basically a case of demand not matching up to the supply

Recent government and Independent reports alike estimate a total of 1.6 million housing units for sale, which could take years, if not decades, to stabilize.

Spain has also had a number of high profile Developer / Politician corruption scandals and talk of resulting court appearances and demolitions are also prominent in the minds of would-be buyers and investors.

Whilst it is true that in recent weeks signs are that the market is starting to stabilize, with buyers taking advantage of low prices, but clearly the market has a way to go before institutional investors will return to Spain in numbers.