Listening to the Greek Tourism Minister on the radio this morning, it’s clear that southern Europe is determined to save its summer season. When tourism accounts for 18% of your GDP, and you’ve only just begun to recover from the worst economic catastrophe in modern history – the global financial crisis – you can understand why countries like Greece are so keen.
Although the focus has been quite rightly on Spain, Italy and France, many of our favourite sunny countries have seen only small effects. Some are islands, like Cyprus and Malta, but Portugal has fewer than a tenth of the cases of Spain.
The question is how they avoid the rest of the world infecting them. The search is on for an efficient system of testing holidaymakers and flyers before they get on a plane, that will convince not just the local health authorities and people, but also the rest of us. There are many ways around the problem, we just need governments and health authorities to come up with a plan. And given that we’re still in April, that doesn’t seem impossible.
For property buyers, the news we’re getting from estate agents and lawyers abroad is very encouraging. Many countries have allowed their building workers to go back, highlighting the importance of the sector in places like Spain. At the webinar we took part in last weekend, many of the questions were about the likely effect on property prices, and the gist from agents was that many vendors will be open to offers.
They are certainly getting ready for a rush of buyers – especially those hoping to buy before the Brexit transition period ends. It’s worth a reminder that you don’t need to buy in an EU country before 31 December to maintain your current rights to local healthcare, pensions, to work and run businesses. All you need do is move there, rent a property and get your residence card, and there will be no shortage of nice rental homes this summer and autumn. You can then move your assets and buy a home when you like.
Your trader will have been keeping up to date with all the coronavirus news, as well as Brexit developments, so it is well worth calling on 020 8108 5337 to discuss our options.
The pound in the meantime is continuing to stay buoyant, a good 1% higher than this time last week. Do bear in mind that most analysts don’t expect that to last and it would be a good time to discuss a forward contract with your trader.
Do also read our latest Quarterly Forecast. They’re pure conjecture from the world’s highest paid guessers really, but the analysis is certainly interesting.
With best wishes
