Expatriates are still buying in Europe with France and Spain being the most popular for Brits.
Despite the ongoing Eurozone crisis expatriates are still intent on buying property in Europe. Spain and France, popular destinations for expat Brits, are the top spots for people looking for property. These results, reported by Rightmove Overseas, showed that 21.7% of all searches in February were carried out in Spain and 17.3% in second place France.
For expats, getting a home loan in France is fairly secure, Conti Director, Clare Nessling told Expatriate Healthcare, with high loan-to-value (LTV) rates. Spanish LTVs are usually around 70%. But with property prices in the Canary Islands, Balearics, Madrid and Barcelona remaining quite resilient people can purchase property with small desposits, Nessling went on to explain.
Another place which is seeing renewed foreign property investment is Malta. New, luxury developments are proving particularly popular, according to the director of real estate agents Frank Salt.
“Infrastructure and restoration initiatives are drawing fresh interest from overseas buyers,” Douglas Salt told the Daily Telegraph. “Maltese banks are continuing to offer loans to buyers from overseas,” he added.
Malta hasn’t felt the impact of the economic crisis as keenly as other popular European destinations. Foreign property owners hold 4.5% of all Maltese property and large percentage of those owners are British.