2020 has seen many of us cancel our overseas holiday due to the pandemic.
However, evidence suggests that more of us are browsing the property market overseas and dreaming of a trip aboard or even considering relocation.
According to the property portal, Rightmove; data shows that searches for overseas property in May reached their highest point for the year – a 33% increase compared to May last year.
Spain, Portugal and France are seeing the biggest uplift. The data shows that searches in Spain were up 34% year on year during May and 33% in France. In Portugal, it was 26%.
Miles Shipside, Rightmove’s property expert said, “Lockdown has allowed many people time to reappraise their lives, which has prompted lots of home hunters to get serious about buying elsewhere in Europe.”
He added, “Countries such as Spain, France and Portugal have cultures that are familiar to us – their warmer climates and reasonably priced rural stock will appeal to those who have been recently denied foreign travel.”
A new Netflix series, White Lines, set on the Spanish island of Ibiza, is considered to have been a factor in the large increase of property searches in Spain.
Kieran Byrne, the owner of HomeEspaña, said, “After a significant dip in activity and enquiries in March and early April, when lockdown measures were first introduced in Spain and the UK, we’ve witnessed a gradual resurgence of interest towards the end of April, and this gathered pace throughout May.”
While the UK lockdown begins to unravel, the increase in overseas property searches could be based on virtual window shopping as summer holidays continue to get cancelled.
