Coronavirus and the Spanish property market

AN early survey of around 600 people has given indicators of the short term future of the Spanish property market after the coronavirus has passed. Many of those surveyed are in the process of buying or selling properties, so in a market partly driven by sentiment their opinions are valuable. Almost 60% expect the current state of complete inaction in the market to continue for at least six months, 30% said three to six and the remaining 10% said less than three months before things got moving again. 57% think that housing prices will be pushed down by the crisis, 37% think there will be a small impact and only 6% expect no change. About three quarters of those surveyed think that foreign buyers will take over a year to return in the numbers they are now. Over half of sellers believe that prospective buyers will wait for a while, expecting prices to go down, putting a further slowdown on the sector. However, 20% of people who were planning to buy before the crisis say they still plan to buy as soon as the crisis is over, indicating there will be some immediate movement, albeit limited.