An upsurge in British people investigating property in the eurozone has been marked.
The renewed interest has been ascribed to the drop in the value of the euro and a belief that prices might finally have bottomed out after five long years. Buyers were also buoyed by low interest rates which have lessened the cost of borrowing.
Property in parts of Italy, France and the Algarve are reckoned by be 30% - 40% lower than in 2009, according to Knight Frank.
Viewings have also shifted from the all-important Easter period to include the winter period.
Savills said that it traditionally sells Mediterranean properties around Easter time, but this year it has been to locations in January and February. It noted it was receiving three times as many inquiries now as it had in 2014.
Rightmove Overseas also reported far more unique visitors in January. Nearly half were seeking a second home, with nearly a quarter hoping to relocate. Others were looking for buy-to-let property.
Despite all the property scandals, Spain was at the top of the list in popularity, with Portugal in fourth place. France was second, the US third, and Italy with fifth most popular.
Spanish data indicates that 14,500 mortgages were agreed in November 2014, an increase of 14% over October. Andalucía and the Canary Islands saw mortgage approvals increase by 25% and 26% respectively.
In 2006, 598,000 homes were sold in Spain against a low of 43,000 in 2013.
Ireland enjoyed the most number of property searches in January and of those looking, almost two-thirds were Brits thinking of relocating.
