Latest property news
Read the latest property news from all around the world from our expert writers located all over the world. Get the latest on buying, travel, emigration, retirement and much more. Whether you are buying a sunny property to spend your summers, or making a big move abroad you will find everything you need to know here.
Is Menorca the new Ibiza?
Long over-shadowed by its noisier Balearic sisters, Menorca is a stunning Spanish island offering a relaxed and charming lifestyle to property buyers. We uncover why Menorca is starting to turn heads.Read more...
Lawnmowers and lemons: our Easter in the Costa Brava
Gin and tonic tastes a million times better with home-grown lemons. Trust me, I’ve tried it, so have the neighbours! So, finding my four-foot lemon tree dripping with fruit when I arrived at my Costa Brava villa this week was a real treat, at least for me and the wife, who enjoy a sundowner. The children – three year old Clemence, six year old Harry and nine year old Maddy – were more excited about slurping away on their all-time favourite drink, chocolate flavoured Cacaolat, which you don’t get in the UK. I think the youngest can see off a carton in under 10 seconds now.Read more...
UK Stamp Duty good news for Spain
The Spanish property market is on the up, with a welcome boost from second home buyers put off buying in the UK by rising Stamp Duty.Read more...
Make an offer, save €33,000
How much should you offer below the asking price? It’s often the most tense and emotional part of a negotiation. You don’t want to offend the vendor, but money is money and why pay over the odds? How much less do most sellers have to accept in Spain anyway?Read more...
Global popularity of Balearics leads to lack of homes
We hear a lot about the glut of Spanish homes following overbuilding in the 2000s, but in the Balearics they have the opposite problem – so few available that holiday employees arriving for the season are struggling to find accommodation, while prices are rising steadily.Read more...
Chinese buyers are falling in love with the French way of life
With a reputed one million Chinese millionaires looking for somewhere to spend their cash, it’s no wonder that the most desirable properties in the world are finding new Chinese owners. And where does your average Ultra High Net Worth Individual (UHNWI) want to be? Paris and the South of France of course – much like the rest of us.Read more...
The current property market in France
Easter has always been the traditional time for property hunters to begin their property search and this is no less true of the foreign property market. France’s property market in recent years has been completely different from that in the UK; prices have not risen very much if at all and indeed in some areas have fallen, forcing sellers to become more realistic about their property’s worth.Read more...
France still a good move for British buyers
Our France country expert, Ellie Robson, discusses what effect the upcoming EU Referendum will have on those looking to buy property in France.Read more...
Would a French mortgage be a good idea?
There is no doubt that the property market in France remains fairly stable with prices having stayed the same or even decreasing in some regions over the past year or so. Financing your French property purchase deserves careful planning and in many instances it is well worth considering applying for a French mortgage.Read more...
Tasting food straight from the sea on the Costa Brava
Catalonia has a culture of its own and at this time of the year it celebrates a small creature which lives in the sea – the sea urchin. For the last 20 years, the town of Palafrugell has organised an important gastronomic event called La Garoinada. Sea urchins have many different names throughout Catalonia, but Palafrugell is the only place that calls sea urchins “garoines.”Read more...
Why the Languedoc Roussillon is so popular
The region of the Languedoc Roussillon, where we have lived for the past 6 years, is a wonderful land stretching from the Massif Central down to the Pyrenees and around the coast towards Provence. Blessed with the same geography and climate as its more expensive neighbour, Provence, it is fast becoming one of the most popular areas in which to buy in France. Here you will find incredible ruined Cathar castles, often set high up on the hills, making you wonder how on earth they were built so long ago, pretty circulade villages, ancient Roman towns, the UNESCO World Heritage Sites of the Cite ofRead more...