Our partner of the international department Mirjam, has been in the real estate fair London. On his return he told us the experience and findings.
“Today I leave Alicante with a mission. I head for London to reveal a secret that has been intriguing me professionally for almost a year. My plane leaves at 7:40AM so that means getting up at a little past 5 in the morning, but as they say “an early bird catches the worm”. And that is exactly what I am determined to do before any other bird does it. What I want to find out is where the British buyers hide themselves. Time after time the three monthly statistic reports produced by Provia (Asociasión de Promotores Inmobiliarias de la provincial de Alicante), based on the details of the Colegio Notarial Valencia, show an ever existing majority of British buying property on the Costa Blanca.
My company, Urbincasa, doesn’t see them. Nor do my agents, who are responsible for a large number of our international sales. Where on earth are they? What do they buy? I am about to find out at the property exhibition A Place In The Sun, named after and related to the famous TV show.
I am thrilled to be in London again after such a long time, I only returned twice after conducting my market research during my five months stay at Silsoe Research Institute, Bedfordshire.
Arriving at London Stansted Airport it says 6 degrees and it is foggy. We are end of March! No wonder the Brits like the Alicante and Murcia coast so much.
The money exchange feels like a real rip-off… Would they give me 1,18€ for a pound in Alicante, here I have to buy them at 1,39€!
Actually the bad exchange rate was the main reason for the British to stop buying Spanish property. Would a house of 150.000€ cost them roughly 100.000£ in 2006, with the value of the pound more or less the same as the euro in 2008, the same house would nearly cost them 150.000£, a raise of 50%. And the British that had already bought and were living in Spain permanently, saw their monthly pension -paid in pounds- shrink with such a huge percentage that -in case of having to pay a mortgage in euros- they couldn’t even make ends meet.
The British were the first to massively put their Spanish properties up for sale. Once again the exchange rate of the pound to the euro was having a big influence; this time pushing the prices down, getting 100.000€ for a house that they paid 150.000€ for seamed reasonable because -converting the euros into pounds would leave them with approximately the amount that they originally paid.
After an intensive exhibition in which I speak to many different real estate professionals, the general idea is that this year is going to be an all time high in the property sales to the Britons. According to some of them, the turning point was the previous Birmingham fair but this A Place In the Sun show is a big success as from 10AM when the doors open.
What are the visitors looking to buy?
Individually and generally, the British buyer is not a big spender. The ideal 2 bedroom apartment costs between 80.000 and 140.000 euros, is not too small, although 70m2 is considered big enough. But please, bear in mind, no small kitchen and a half-open American kitchen is much preferred over the completely open kitchen. They are willing to spend a bit more on a townhouse, which indeed is a very popular type of house, let´s say between 150.000 and 180.000 euros and around 200.000 euros for an individual villa.
Big selling points? Make the purchase as easy and safe as possible. Offer the clients inspection trips, a fully furnished house with a rental guarantee, a mortgage in place and a legal service and you will sell! What about the style? Does it have to be all temporary and Ikea-style like the Scandinavian public wants? The answer is a simple “no”. Many of the British are imagining their place in the sun to be “Spanish”, colored houses with Mediterranean archways, white banisters and blue tiles. It doesn´t need to be right on the beach –although of course the closer the better- also a property on or next to a golf course is a good option.
However, coming back to the question where the British buyers who show up in the statistics have been over the past year, the answer is an unanimously “ I haven´t seen them!” But who cares about the past when a bright future lies ahead of us. I call it BBB… Brits Back to Buy!”
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