The general feeling is that most British buyers are waiting for sterling to recover to particular ´trigger´ rates such as 1.15 and in particular 1.20

In fact, the last 2 weeks has seen a surge of UK enquiries for property in Spain after sterling rallied over 5% to hit the first of these magical triggers.

But let´s look at this situation from the other side. As we previously mentioned, most of the Spanish properties for sale in the key hotspots of the Costa del Sol and Costa Blanca are owned by British vendors, and during the demise of sterling in the last 12 months, they have been able to lower their asking prices considerably, and in some cases accept incredibly low offers, precisely because of sterling´s dire straits.If someone had bought a property for 300,000 euros in 2005 at a rate of 1.40, they would have paid the equivalent of £214,286

If they sell the same property at a whopping loss of 30% (90,000 euros), and then change their proceeds from euros into sterling, they will net the equivalent of £190,909. Despite making a 30% loss on the price of the property, the real loss to them is actually only 10.9% (£23,377), not ´that´ bad considering all the doom and gloom around the Spanish property market.

But this win-win situation is all set to change, and we are already seeing the effects of the recent recovery of sterling on the attitudes of buyers and sellers alike.

Buyers from the UK are now becoming more confident in their ability to buy into the Spanish property market – after all, their pounds are now worth more over here in Spain…..aren´t they??

British sellers of Spanish properties are now toughening their stance when it comes to accepting low offers, and some are even raising their asking prices, all due to the fact that, as sterling rises against the euro, so their position worsens.

For instance, if sterling pushes on to hit heights of 1.25, that same property that had previously cost 300,000 euros (£214,286) in 2005 would fetch just £168,000 if sold at a 30% loss at 210,000 euros. That represents a £22,909 loss on the figure that they could achieve by selling their property now (and a whopping net loss form the original price of £46,286, or 22%) even at the same price of 300,000 euros.

Don´t be at all surprised to see the following occur in the next 12 months:

-    an increase in the confidence of UK buyers of Spanish properties as economic conditions ease
-    a perceived increase in UK buyers´ spending power as the value of sterling increases
-    a hardening of attitudes by British sellers of properties in Spain
-    low offers being rejected by British owners, with only offers close to the asking price being accepted
-    potential for price increases in certain very popular areas

This may come as a bit of a shock to many British buyers considering investing in Spanish property, but agents in the popular areas are seeing this happening on a day-to-day basis at the moment.

It may sound far-fetched, but I fear it is true – the Brits are in danger of missing the boat and buying into the market too late to take advantage of what are clearly excellent conditions for anyone looking to snap up a Spanish property bargain.