Spanish property sales surge 27pc

Engel & Völkers, the international German real estate agency, has enjoyed a record first quarter in 2015.

The company brokered a total of 201.49M euros in sales, 19.8 per cent higher than the same three-month period last year.

E&V Spain, which has 65 shops throughout the country, sold a total of 332 properties between January and March 2015, representing an increase of 27.2 per cent over the 261 properties sold at the same time in 2014. Rentals also saw a strong increase, with 306 new contracts representing a year-on-year rise of 61.9 per cent.

E&V attributes the demand to buyers from Germany, UK, Austria, Scandinavia and Switzerland. These buyers are focused on the main holiday regions of Spain and the Mediterranean, says the agency.

"We are extremely pleased with the first results of 2015 and we our well placed to continue our strategy for expansion," comments Sven Odia, Co President of Engel & Völkers AG."

The group anticipates the growth to continue throughout the rest of 2015 assisted by the company's opening of new offices in key market areas.

"We are on track to recruit 2,000 new sales agents throughout the world," adds Odia.