France and spain down the drain?

Interest in two of Europe’s top investment destinations is ‘waning’, warns HiFX…

The latest HiFX Monthly Global Property Hotspots Report has revealed that buying property in typical euro destinations such as France and Spain is waning as the poor exchange rate increases costs for British buyers.

Mark Bodega, Director of HiFX explained: “Sterling weakened significantly against the euro over recent months, reaching an all-time low of 1.2344 in April. This has increased the cost of property for people buying in sterling. “Spain has been particularly badly hit, with talk of falling property prices, especially in the over supplied Costa regions, making new buyers wary of investing in the country.

“Property prices in France seem relatively stable although British buyers are negotiating hard to make up for the inflated costs caused by the weak pound.”

Conflicting figures?

HiFX’s findings are in stark contrast a recent  Survey conducted by the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Commerce, which revealed that Spain welcomed more than 15 million foreign tourists in the first quarter of 2008 - a 3.3% increase on the same period last year.

Ben Walker, marketing manager of PropertyInSpain.Net, commented: “It’s a buyer’s market in Spain, and those who negotiate the best property and currency deals will reap the strongest possible dividends in the future.

“There are now many new money saving ways for buyers to cash in on the weaker house market in Spain and at same time overcome the problems of the weakness of Sterling and other currencies against the Euro”.