P.25 COLUMN Tancrede (1)
Tancrede de Pola

FRIDAY was a pretty dark day. I’d be lying if I didn’t feel slightly shell-shocked in the immediate aftermath of the Brexit vote.

After all, nobody saw it coming (and if they say they did, they’re perhaps being economic with the truth).

The next deadline is the invoking of article 50 which is when formal negotiations start for the exit from the EU. Expect sentiment to be affected again depending on how these progress.

But things must move on, and already have. In fact, the first quarter of 2016 has brought home some encouraging statistics, leading on from the growth seen in 2015.

In terms of the property market in Spain and mortgage sales things are actually looking up! Despite the looming threat of Brexit, the number of home mortgages granted to prospective buyers in Spain increased by 24.6% in April compared with the same month a year earlier, according to new data by Spain’s Statistical Office (INE).

In total 23,607 home mortgages were granted in the month with the amount of money loaned out rising by 30.9% to €2.5 billion according to a year-on-year comparison. So more loans and with a higher average value, increasing by 5.1% to €108,350.  

And that is not the only reason to be optimistic.

Despite house prices levelling off (and in some cases, even dropping) in the UK I expect the Spanish market to continue on its steady upward curve; so do not panic if you are planning to sell in the next few months.

I would expect the number of Brits moving abroad to momentarily decline as the Pound recovers from its recent dip.

However, buyers in the Middle East, Russia, Scandinavia and other parts of Europe are as interested as ever in moving to the Costa del Sol and I expect them to pick up the slack left by a slight decrease in British buyers.  

In fact, I have a trip to Iran lined up for later this year as demand for overseas property is booming since the relaxation of sanctions imposed since the nuclear deal with the West. In fact we can arrange mortgages for any nationality (except north Koreans!!)

However, I would stress that the number of British buyers is likely to only decrease by a minimal amount and I expect them to continue to make up the backbone of my clientele.

After all, Spain is on the up as a holiday destination and Brits will still want to own their own holiday home. If they want a house in Spain they will by one, Brexit or no Brexit.  

Things may look a bit gloomy, but Brexit hysteria has almost reached breaking point and when it breaks, things won’t look quite so bad after all.

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