Research by Mintel for UK based Parador Properties shows that the Spanish market, buoyed up by the strength of the euro, receives around UK£12bn a year from British investors alone. Not only Brits, but also Belgians, the Irish, Germans and Scandinavians amongst others have long been attracted to the Spanish market. Spaniards, too, are keen buyers of second homes. “There is a high propensity to aspire to own a second home in the countryside or on the coast: over a fifth of households already own one,” notes Professor Ball.

Costa del Sol remains the most expensive of the Costas, with Marbella and environs commanding top dollar As Naomi Greatbanks at Savills points out: “That the greater Marbella area is over priced and overbuilt has fuelled the drive to seek properties elsewhere.” More and more foreign buyers are discovering there is life beyond Marbella and the Costa del Sol. Like other European second home destinations, no frills airlines have played a major part in opening up hitherto little known areas to foreign buyers. Moneycorp, which tracks foreign property investment on the low cost no-frills routes, has seen a phenomenal 144 per cent increase in Malaga over the last four years, for instance.

One region rapidly gaining ‘hotspot’ status and convenient to no less than three no-frills airports is the Costa de la Luz at the southernmost parameters of mainland Spain, between Gibraltar and Portugal, and just 15 km from Morocco. Property prices, at least for the time being, are substantially lower than any other of the costas. “It is not unusual to find properties priced 50 per cent less than equivalent properties in prime areas of the Costa del Sol,” says Christopher Mercer, MD of Henley based specialist Spanish property agents Mercers. The company has just launched phase three of La Noria in the historic hilltop town of Vejer de la Frontera, overlooking the coastline. Three bedroom townhouses start from around E188,000.

Another area served by no-frills airlines and very much up and coming is the Costa Calida where a new development of 600 homes sits on 100 hectares of land adjacent to a forest and a 16th century palace. At Señorio de Roda, marketed by Ultra Villas, a typical two bedroom apartment with a sun terrace starts from E189,000.

But if you are adamant about buying in the grand daddy of the Costas, Savills is selling a Costa del Sol ‘aparthotel’ ripe for development with seven two bedroom guest suites, pool, restaurant and a main house in Casares – above Estopona and overlooking the Mediterranean – for E2.6m.

Or away from the Costas, the Balearic Islands are another prime second home destination. If you are in the market for a waterfront estate with magnificent views over Palma Bay in Mallorca, Knight Frank has one on offer for E6.5m. It includes three large houses, a porter’s lodge and a heated pool in a natural rock formation.

If neither an island setting nor the Costas are of interest and you are keen to restore an old property, the Spanish hinterland presents no shortage of opportunity. But if you want ‘historic’ without the work, on the market from Savills is a charmingly restored watermill an hour inland from Malaga airport on the outskirts of the Andalusian village of Periana for E425,000.

Final Word

Where ever in Spain you may consider the purchase of property, do your homework – once, twice, thrice – and always seek expert legal advise. Apply the same rigorous standards to your foreign property purchase that you would at home, but more so. This should eliminate many of the obstacles that may otherwise hinder your purchase. Good luck and always remember: buyer beware!

Contacts:

• Knight Frank
  www.knightfrank.com
• Mercers
  www.spanishproperty.co.uk
• Moneycorp
  www.moneycorp.com
• Parador Property
  www.paradorproperties.com
• Savills
  www.savills.com
• Ultra Villas
  www.ultravillas.com