2015 will be the year many people buy their dream home in the sun, probably on one of the Spanish Costas. The Spanish Banks certainly hope so!!

The early indications from the recognised Spanish Property experts suggests that in some locations the prices have now started to increase, and the availability in some locations also appears to be reducing.

We understand that the hundreds of thousands of available Bank properties have reduced significantly, leaving properties that in some locations, may never sell due to their condition and size.  It is good to see that new build projects are on the increase though, especially on Spain’s Southern Costa Blanca, to meet the demand from all over Europe and the rest of the world.

A major factor in the increase in the number of sales is that the Spanish banks are now lending again, although with a criteria akin to how the UK lenders are now offering mortgages.  At current rates this is a vehicle that could be factored into any potential buyers funding options.  By doing so it effectively brings back to the buyer the availability of choice coupled with the fact that the bank will also do due diligence on the property, so effectively a double check on the property status.

An example of this is a client with £75,000 available to buy their dream home in Spain; they may wish to consider using £50,000 of this therefore retaining £25,000.  The client could then borrow 63,000 euro giving them funds (at a rate of 1.27euro/£1) of circa 126,000 euro to use to purchase their property.

By considering the action of taking a mortgage that client has dramatically increased the number of available properties to them, both new and resale, and more importantly the locations they can select their dream home from (providing it’s affordable.) With a smaller budget comes a more limited number of options and potentially not buying, or even worse buying something they don’t really want.

Using a Mortgage broker to obtain the most suitable mortgage for you is possibly a better option as opposed to going direct to a Spanish Bank, as the deals to brokers are coming up daily that may suit a particular buyer.

Currently the Loan to Value or Loan to purchase price (whichever is the lower) mortgages peak at 70% for non-Spanish residents (subject to credit status) with term in some cases up to 30 years or 75 years of age (whichever is the lower.)

The Euribor Rate currently is circa 0.37%, so deals could be available at Euribor plus 1.5% for premium clients, maybe a little higher for others, for an initial period.

As with all financial projects, prospects should take advice from a specialist in the country of purchase. Your Place in Spain Ltd are happy to introduce Mortgage Directa, a Spain based mortgage brokerage.

Mortgage Directa are happy to discuss client requirements, access the link on the bottom right of our home page and find out more – www.yourplaceinspain.com