Is now the right time to buy Spanish property?

If you are living in Spain or in the UK, you most probably will have read that Spanish property is declining in value and that the Spanish housing market is at a standstill right now. How should that affect your decision about moving to Spain and buying property here? In fact, is now the right time to buy Spanish property?

Well, if you are thinking about selling up in the UK, investing all your money in Spanish property and moving to Spain, then you need to be absolutely certain that you have thoroughly researched all you can about Spanish life and culture and that you, and all of your family who are moving out with you, will not only be happy moving to Spain, but that you will have enough cash (and/or a steady job) to provide for them when you all live here.

If you plan on keeping your house in the UK, but have some spare cash to buy a holiday home in Spain, or a home for your future retirement, then the option is still open to you to buy Spanish property.

What you do need to think about, however, is that the prices of property in Spain may still fall for a while and it could take several years for the property market to pick up again.

This is why, whatever your reasons for moving to Spain, you do need to think very carefully about all aspects of living and working here, particularly the cost of living in Spain (not much different to the UK) and whether you can honestly afford it, plus other details about Spanish life and culture, which have been discussed in previous articles on About Moving to Spain.

I say this because, if you sell up everything to move to Spain, or use all the spare cash you had put by for your retirement home in the sun, you may not be able to sell that property at a profit for a number of years. You do not want to be stuck in Spain without a job or income and without enough money to move back to the UK.

Many expats living in Spain love Spanish life and would never want to go back, so this would not be a problem for them, but you do have to take these considerations into account.

But the fall in housing prices in Spain is not all bad news for people who want to move here and live as expats, particularly if you have some spare money to invest in Spanish property.

If you take a look at property markets over the years, house prices rise for some time, then you have a recession and property values drop. This is happening in Spain right now. But property markets are cyclical. When house prices fall, they rise again. It is just that this time, in Spain as in other countries, they may take longer to rise than they did in the past.

If you want to move to Spain in the future, wait a few months in case property values fall a little more, and then purchase your Spanish home for future use or holiday lets. You will get it at a very good price and if your Spanish home needs renovating, as many do, you should be able to negotiate a good price with a Spanish (or perhaps a good expat) builder, as they will be looking for work.

In fact, for anyone thinking of investing in Spanish property, a few months from now could be a good time to buy your villa in Spain at a very good price. And when Spanish property prices rise in a few years time, you could have a very good investment on your hands and a home in the sun which cost you a lot less to buy and to renovate than it would have done a year ago.

Buying property in any country takes research and a great deal of thought. Property speculation is always a gamble and Spanish property is no exception. But it seems to me that this is a gamble that could well pay off. But only if you have the spare cash to do so after all other savings for the future are accounted for.

And even if you do not have the spare cash to invest in Spanish property right now, but still want to move to Spain, then why not keep your home in the UK, let it out to pay your mortgage costs, and rent a house or apartment in Spain?

Rental property in Spain is cheaper than in the UK and you will have a good choice of Spanish villas, houses and apartments to rent. This will give you the time to see for sure whether you and your family want to move to Spain permanently or whether, after experiencing your life in the sun, you are not so sure that Spain is still your choice.

Even when property prices fall and markets are unstable, with research and consideration, you can still make your move to a new Spanish lifestyle. It's just that you have to be even more careful at these times when you make your decisions about moving to Spain.