Each
year more and more people buy property in Spain as an investment. Although in
theory there are many reasons for investing in property in Spain (housing prices
have gone up by 220% in the past five years here), and lots of companies ready
to sell you property that isn't even built yet, the reality is that too many people
fail to understand the ins and outs of buying a house in Spain, and their investment
can - and sometimes does - all go horribly wrong.
Because
Spain is a wonderful place to live the property market here is an attractive option
for a safe investment, if you go about it in the right way. But if you don't understand
the Spanish property market properly, you and your investment can be quite vulnerable.
For example read this
experience of a British family featured on BBC Money box whose plans to invest
in real estate in Spain did not turn out to be what they expected. Or this news
item about problems foreign property owners are facing in the Costa Blanca region
of Spain.
According
to some estimates, over one and a half million foreign people will invest in property
in Spain over the next five years. Attracted by reasonable prices, cheap flights,
good weather and Spanish lifestyle, investers increasingly look to Spain as one
of the best options available in Europe.
The housing
market is still thriving here and housing
prices are expected to continue to rise in Spain at least in the near future.
But even so, we encourage our users to become properly informed before buying
property. It is a big step to make, and while the vast majority of foreign house
buyers in Spain are pleased with their experience (150,000
houses are purchased by foreign buyers each year), a growing minority are
not.
