Spanish property sales have surged 60 per cent in the past year, as the weak euro sparks a buying boom from Brits and other overseas investors. In 2014, Engel & Völkers brokered a total sales value of 699.25 M euros, 60 per cent higher than the 435.1M euros recorded in 2013. E&V brokered 1,071 transactions in Spain in 2014 representing an increase of 77.6 per cent over the previous year, when...

The UK’s largest and oldest private sales website will be re-launching on Monday 16th March after suffering for years with agents trawling the site and poaching their private vendors. Private sellers' frustration at being contacted by numerous estate agents trying to win their business proved to be a major source of complaints for The Little House site, but there was little the website could do to...

Portuguese property prices have risen for the first time in four years.  Portugal ended its bailout scheme last year, as the economy also exited recession. That positive recovery has gradually showed signs of spreading to the housing market, with confidence and sales both improving. Now, property prices in the country have risen for the first time since the bailout, according to the latest survey from the...

Help to Buy has now helped almost 88,420 people to purchase a home, the UK government has announced, but new research suggests that the scheme is being held back by one of the problems it is designed to solve. The scheme was introduced in 2013 to help taxpayers who could pay a mortgage but couldn’t afford the high deposits demanded by lenders in the wake of the financial crisis. It was joined by the...

The UK's new Start Homes scheme has now officially launched, offering 100,000 cut-price homes to first-time buyers with 20 per cent off their asking price. The discount is made possible by cutting planning requirements, allowing house builders to slash 20 per cent off the usual price. With average house prices for first time buyers in England standing at around £218,000, a new Starter Home could save...

Planning to sell your home by the summer? You have 26 days, according to one estate agent. Research from Move With Us reveals that homeowners who want to sell their house by the start of the school summer holidays should put it on the market by 22 March.  While the date may sound like a long way ahead of the sunny months, the gap will give them a chance of moving into their next home before the start...

Spain's tourist industry is soaring, according to new figures. The number of foreign arrivals in the country almost reached 65 million in 2014, data from the government reveals, while Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has confirmed that between them visitors spent an impressive €63 billion, up 6.5 per cent on the previous year. The country's tourism minister hailed it as “one of the key sectors in...

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A chronic supply shortage in the UK is fueling a rise in UK property prices. The UK housing stock has struggled to meet demand for many years, following a long period of low construction levels. New figures from Rightmove, though, highlight the increasing impact the imbalance is having upon the country's property prices, with values climbing at the start of the year, despite a slowdown in the...

Demand for rental property in the UK is outstripping supply, an imbalance that is driving up rates. The private rented sector in the UK remains highly sought after, as high house prices and a rising cost of living leaves many potential homeowners unable to climb onto the property ladder. Instead, renting has become the long-term option, with "Generation Rent" growing in size.  The recently introduced...