That was the prediction made by international property experts at an RICS conference I attended in Brussels last week. Apparently, with interest rates so low, the amount of money seeking investment that will give some return is exceptionally high. As a result, this ‘wall of money’, amplified by Quantitative Easing, is chasing a reducing number of good-looking deals and lenders are again participating in sub-optimal deals just so that the capital is deployed. “Loan prices are going off the scale and it’s amazing how quickly we seem to have forgotten the crisis”.
Well, as a market that is just struggling out of the crisis, on the international section of Costa del Sol at least, this does seem a bit depressing. Fortunately, it is all at a different level of market from the average single property purchaser on Costa del Sol, but it’s as well remembering that we should all be buying for lifestyle and pleasure and not necessarily for long-term investment. Life is there to be enjoyed and who knows what the future will bring.
Campbell D. Ferguson, FRICS, is a chartered surveyor in Spain.His company Survey Spain Network arranges valuations and surveys by RICS chartered surveyors anywhere in mainland Spain and the Balearic and Canary Islands, and Gibraltar. This includes valuations, building surveys, structural surveys, building inspections and investment and development appraisals.
