Although not officially announced it looks likely that the Spanish government is going to set the limit for residency visa qualification at €500,000 and not the previous level they announced in November of €160,000.
While it is welcome news that some programme will get started – we expect July – it is not so welcome for availability. €500,000 buys you a lot in Spain. There is not a lot of property in this price range, especially bank properties which is where the real value lies for buyers.

We have counted a total of just under 100 bank properties across the three largest banks we work with. Yet there are thousands of people chasing this visa. With the demand for this visa type extremely high we expect the bank repossessed properities (the main discounted stock in Spain) to sell quickly. After those are sold the attention will switch to the resale market. But even then, properties on the market over €500,000 are limited.

Anybody looking for a visa and a bargain needs to act quickly as soon as the legislation is passed. At the moment it is only possible to reserve for around 5 days before committing so it is too soon to buy. Please, we advise any readers to be careful of unscrupulous agents promising a visa for a deposit placed now. THE VISA LEGISLATION IS STILL NOT APPROVED.

Keep watching here. As soon as we have definitive news we will advise those following our blog.