Most of the international fund companies invited by leading property consultants and estate agents believe that the Spanish property market now offers excellent investment opportunities, and that the construction cycle is beginning to recover in some parts of Spain, particularly in the residential sector.
According to a recent report by the property consultancy Knight Frank, international fund companies could invest up to 14,000 million euros in the Spanish property market during 2014, and they are particularly interested in acquiring offices and hotels.
Experts are convinced that as soon as the economy improves, house prices will go up again. Several reports published in recent weeks predict a rise in prices. CaixaBank, for example, believes that house prices will begin to recover during 2015.
There are several reasons to be optimistic about the housing market. One is that the number of unsold homes has begun to fall, as a result of increased sales of completed homes and a slowdown in the construction of new ones. Sales are highest in Spain’s coastal areas. New construction is increasing. Banco Sabadell alone has 60 developments under construction.
In short, the sluggish Spanish property sector is beginning to move, and investors — the international fund companies, for instance — are showing renewed interest in the market. Spain is once again considered a good place to invest, even though this change in the trend is not based on economic indicators but rather on a shift in investors’ perceptions and in how they see Spain. The great challenge now is therefore to make sure that property continues to be seen as an attractive investment option for a long time to come. One of Spain’s foremost advantages is that it is a country where the rule of law is upheld, and that gives investors more security.