Spain’s property market remains firmly in favour of buyers as figures by a leading Spanish portal showed that on average in January house-hunters there offered 23 per cent less than asking prices.

According to idealista.com, in January the biggest difference between asking prices and offers was in Malaga, home to the Costa del Sol, where house-hunters offered 29 per cent less than asking prices, followed by Soria (28 per cent less) and the Balearics (27 per cent).

Differences of more than 25 per cent were also to be found in Girona (Costa Brava), Tarragona (Costa Dorada), Castellon (Costa Azahar), Murcia, and Almeria (Costa Calida), all popular locations with foreign holiday-home buyers.

Evidence would suggest there is still a big gulf between vendor expectations and what buyers are prepared to pay, compounded by pressure being put on Spanish banks to re-value their housing stock downwards.

For details of property for sale in Spain, visit the Spanish listings on Rightmove Overseas. One way to save money when buying in Spain is to use a currency specialist when transferring your pounds into euros to complete the purchase of your property. For more information on this, contact Smart Currency Exchange.

To understand the full step-by-step process to buying a property in Spain, collect The Overseas Guides Company’s ‘Spain Property Buying Guide’