The US election result has prompted a surge in the number of enquiries from the United States about purchasing Spanish property, according to one of the country`s leading independent real estate agencies.
The number of searches for property for sale in Spain on the LucasFox.com website from the United States increased by 25% in the 4 weeks following the US elections on 8th November compared to the previous 4 weeks.
Barcelona City has been the most sought-after destination – the number of enquiries received from US citizens looking for homes in the Catalan capital went up by 175% in the month after the elections, whilst enquiries for Madrid properties went up by 50%.
“It is still early days to see whether this will be a consistent trend. The US elections seem to have provoked a similar spike in interest for Spanish property as the EU referendum result did for Brits. In the weeks following that result, Lucas Fox received numerous enquiries from disillusioned British citizens contemplating relocation to Spain for either personal or business reasons.” Vaughan
In 2017, Americans will also be able to take advantage of cheap flights from the West coast of the US thanks to 4 new flight routes from Norwegian airlines. Americans can also currently benefit from the so-called ‘Golden Visa’ scheme, legislation introduced in 2013 which grants non-EU nationals Spanish residency in exchange for property investments. Benefits include free travel within the 26-country Schengen area and the right to work in Spain.
“There is particularly strong demand for new and newly renovated homes,” said Vaughan. “Not only do these turnkey properties have the potential for decent capital gains, they can generate both long-term and short-term rental income throughout the year.”
Latest sales figures from real estate business indicates positive trends with the number of transactions up by 30% in the period between January and November 2016 compared to the same period last year. Barcelona province has seen the most significant increases.