Real estate for sale in Spain

Real estate in Spain. For a family vacation on the beach with a bucket and paddle, there's no better place than the Spanish costas. If you want to sit in a bar and enjoy a delicious meal, you'll love it. If you dream of early retirement in warm sunshine, even in January, the chance to play golf and have your grandchildren just a couple hours flight away, this is the place for you.

Despite its economic problems in recent years, it is quite easy to live and buyreal estate in Spain. It is a modern country with quality medical and educational services, as well as modern infrastructure. If you do not want to speak Spanish, you can do without it, and in any corner of the country you will find a friendly community of foreigners.

The main problem can be choosing where to buy a house in Spain. There are ten islands to choose from - the Balearics in the Mediterranean or the Canaries in the Atlantic. Wherever you decide to live, you are likely to have a good choice of real estate. Spain is notorious for building too many houses and apartments at the height of the boom and not being able to sell them. The truth is that all the most popular places are already sold out, but you can still buy an apartment in a famous resort town from 50,000 euros or a country house for 150,000 euros. We could go on and on: Spain has wonderful culture, cuisine and nature.

Where to buyreal estate in Spain.

As always, location is key. For those looking for property in a more authentic Spain, there are white hilltop villages where farmers ride donkeys, as well as Moorish wonders such as the Alhambra, and the trendiest cities, Barcelona and Madrid - and prices have already started to rise in Marbella, popular locations in the Balearic Islands and the ever-popular Costa Blanca.

There are few areas in Spain at the moment worth looking out for - in fact, some of them have never even cooled down, such as recession-proof Mallorca, still attracting the mega-rich and royals, and ever-trendy Ibiza, attracting the children of the buyers who discovered it in the 60s. You can buy a one-bedroom apartment in Mallorca for around €300,000, although it will cost more in the charming town of Palma, but that city is reinventing itself as a more attractive version of Barcelona.

Among the Costa Blanca, the most popular places to buyreal estate are Hill Valleja, Moraira, Javea, Denia, Calpe and Benitachell Costa. In prestigious Moraira the price for a quality three bedroom villa with pool in a good location will be around 415,000 euros, but in Benitachell you could buy a four or five bedroom villa for 300,000 euros.

Inland, the Orba and Halon valleys are growing in popularity with buyers looking for a quieter location than the coastal resorts and more spare cash. In the Orba Valley, you can buy a three-bedroom villa with swimming pool for around €280,000.

Moving south to the Costa del Sol, luxury Marbella can be said to be earning popularity, with new construction projects and a high demand for rentals on a regular basis. You can buy an apartment in a complex for 180,000 euros, but a spacious apartment in a good gated community in a desirable location will cost around 300,000 euros. Popular areas include Estepona, San Pedro, Nueva Andalucía, Mijas Costa and Benahavis.

The English-speaking resort of Benalmadena is popular with tourists and foreigners, and you can buy a one-bedroom apartment there for around €180,000. Next to the Costa Almeria, a stretch of unspoiled coastline betweenMurcia and Granada, there is less development here, and perhaps the British know less about it, but its fans appreciate that its villages still retain much of their Spanish character - it's still 'the real Spain'. Mojacar remains a popular destination, less than an hour from the airport, and a central place to get around Almeria, as well as a traditional vacation spot - ideal for families and couples. You have plenty of choice of one or two-bedroom apartments with budgets as low as €120,000; villa prices start from €235,000.