Buying a Home in Spain?

Sponsored by Mortgage Direct.

Can Expats Get Mortgages in Spain?

Barcelona Metropolitan spoke with expert Katherine Walkerdine to learn about the process and gain some perspective on the challenges of securing a loan for acquiring real estate in Spain.

What Is Mortgage Direct?

Mortgage Direct has become the leading independent mortgage broker in Spain, as confirmed by the main lenders in this market. Because of the high volume and quality of mortgage business that it has the Spanish banks, Mortgage Direct can offer better terms, conditions and services on mortgages to its clients than if clients had gone directly to the banks.

How Does Mortgage Direct Help Expats?

While Mortgage Direct covers all of Spain, Barcelona is the strongest market. With over 95% of its clients being international buyers, Barcelona remains a favored hotspot. From the outset, Mortgage Direct has arranged many mortgages for clients buying properties in Barcelona, covering the full range of purposes, from people buying for holiday use to purchasing investment properties, a permanent residence or for commercial purposes.

What Kinds of Products Does Mortgage Direct Offer?

Mortgage Direct offers various products to help the international community purchase properties in Spain. These include mortgages for commercial real estate, construction loans, holiday homes and investments as well as primary residencies.

How Well Does Mortgage Direct Know the Iberian Market?

Mortgage Direct was founded in 2006 by Katherine Walkerdine and Kevin Monger after they had experienced and mastered the complexities of the Spanish mortgage market. With over 50 years of combined experience in the financial services industry, we identified the need to provide international property buyers with transparent and quality mortgage advice.

What Are the Biggest Challenges You Face Right Now?

Our biggest challenge is that potential buyers are unable to physically visit Barcelona at the moment to view properties. We are seeing some buyers (mainly pure investors) who are still buying off-plan or via virtual property tours, although the majority wish to see a property in person, which of course is understandable.

There is a misconception among buyers, sellers and estate agents that mortgage approvals, valuations and completions are simply not achievable at the moment. This is not true. The banks (including the underwriters) are carrying on their work—even if from home—and while the general level of activity has dropped and the processes are a little slower, valuations and completions at the notaries are still going ahead. 

Are You Able to Arrange a Mortgage during the Shutdown in Preparation for When the Travel Ban Is Lifted?

Absolutely, yes. We are encouraging clients to start the mortgage process now so that they have a mortgage offer ready, for when they can visit properties again. One of our mortgage advisers, Simon Staples, wrote an article recently which describes how we are finding the situation in respect to COVID-19.

It is also interesting to point out that while our mortgage inquiries dropped significantly after the state of emergency was announced in Spain on March 14, in the last week our inquires have risen back up to nearly 60% of those received in February (which was our busiest ever month since Mortgage Direct started). We are receiving a lot of positive feedback from investors and clients buying properties for personal use, indicating they still wish to buy in Spain once COVID-19 has subsided. 

How Does the Barcelona Mortgage Market Compare to the Rest of Spain during This Health Crisis?

In our experience, we have always found Barcelona to be a robust property market, which remains extremely popular with international buyers. After the global financial crisis of 2007-2008 and the political upheaval following the independence referendum in Catalunya in 2017, we have seen Barcelona recover to reach previous levels of mortgage activity far quicker than other areas of Spain such as the Balearics, the Costa Blanca, Andalucia & Valencia, where we also do a lot of business.

With COVID-19, we expect the same. In fact, even since the coronavirus escalated in Spain, we have had more clients sign up for our mortgage service who are buying in Barcelona than any other area in Spain. 

To find out more about Mortgage Direct, please see the following video which explains the benefits of using their service. 

Sponsored by Mortgage Direct.

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