Expatriates are optimistic about the summer season on the UK property market after the Conservatives won the election last week, according to Offshoreonline.org.
Whilst the shadow of a mansion tax was never really an issue for the majority of overseas UK expat property buyers the recent bounce in sterling is far more welcome, the international mortgage broker says.
As the euro currency continues to lose ground against the pound, property prices across Europe have dropped by 15 per cent, Guy Stephenson, a spokesman for Offshoreonline.org says.
At the same time, the value of the US dollar against both the euro and the British pound has increased and this makes properties in popular hotspots like France, Spain, Italy and Portugal cheaper by 20 per cent for expatriate buyers, Stephenson explains.
The mortgage rates in euro and in sterling are down, with rates in sterling available to UK buyers from 3.53 per cent. For buyers in euro, rates could be as low as 2.1 per cent for a ten-year fix and 2.7 per cent variable rate for French euro mortgages, with rates in Spain and Portugal a bit higher, he adds.
Recent studies show that currently around six million Britons are planning to move abroad when they reach retirement age and places like Spain and Italy are among the popular destinations for relocation.
With the difference in exchange rates and the low mortgage offers on the European markets it is a good time to consider a property purchase abroad.
