Second Home Market in Spain Hots Up

For anyone retiring and wanting a place in the sun, is now the time to buy? The head of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, thinks that Spain’s economy is returning to health. "Spain has turned the corner," she said, predicting economic growth this year of 0.9% and of 1% in 2016. Spanish property valuer Tinsa reckons the glut of homes on the market should largely be cleared by 2017, and that new building programmes will begin next year as shortages emerge in high-demand areas.

The British are the biggest foreign buyers of properties in Spain, owning an estimated 170,000 homes in the country, mostly along the Costas.

Even if prices are not recovering much, transactions are. The number of properties sold in the Valencia region, which includes the Costa Blanca, is up 17% since 2013.

Buyers who are really focused on price can pick up very low prices if they go inland, says Paul Payne of Masa, a Costa Blanca estate agency. "If you are prepared to be away from the coast, savings are a lot bigger."

Prices are frequently half of what they used to be. He says he is "flying out more Britons in the next eight weeks than in the last two years" for viewings about 30 minutes away from Alicante at beachside Torrevieja and more inland near Orihuela.