Britons piled into Spain and got burnt. The Germans bided their time. Now they’re moving in, should we follow?
We may fancy ourselves as a nation of hot-shot property investors who know a financial gold mine when we see one, whether at home or abroad. But are we? As the economy has unravelled, so has our track record in making property purchases across the globe — especially in Spain, where there has been much more pain than gain.
German investors, on the other hand, have largely avoided our mistakes, and are now buying back property in their favourite haunts, such as Mallorca, from distressed British sellers. Could it be that the Germans are just better than we are, not only at football, but at buying overseas property? And, if so, what does this mean? Is now the time for smart investors to follow German buyers back into the Spanish market?
The Germans used to be big buyers in Spain, but, from about 2003, financial worries at home and a prudent mind-set meant they began to retreat, just as the British advanced. Many sold to British buyers after years of surging property prices. Now it looks as if they are back, at least in preferred strongholds such as Mallorca and Gran Canaria.
“Ja! More Germans come back now,” says Margret Düllmann, head of Düllmann & Hundertmark, an estate agency in Gran Canaria. Martie Quick, a director of Engel & Völkers estate agency in Mallorca, is witnessing the same resurgence. “They bought low, sold high, and now they are back to buy low again,” he says.
Read the full article in the Telegraph