Pound Rises, Aiding You To By Mijas Property in 2019

Are you thinking of buying a home in Mijas this year? If this is the case, perhaps you plan to purchase a unique 2-bedroom apartment in Manilva for 139,900€. Alternatively, maybe you've got your heart set on a 163m attic duplex with a swimming pool in Atalaya Golf for 194,250€.

Either way, you can look forward to enjoying the Spanish sun, sangria in hand, whether you're buying Mijas real estate as a holiday home, or retire and emigrate.

Ahead of buying your Mijas home, it may interest you to know what's happened to the foreign exchange rate of late. After all, the higher the euro total you achieve in your Spanish bank account when you transfer money from the UK to Spain, the more affordable your Mijas dream becomes.

So what's happened to the pound versus the euro recently, and why? Well, let's see.

1. Sterling Has Risen Significantly Versus The Eurozone's Common Currency Since January 1^st, 2019.

First, if you intend to buy Mijas property in 2019, it may interest you to know that the interbank exchange rate has risen notably since the start of this year.

To be specific, at the time of writing, the pound stands at 1.1702 versus the euro. By comparison, on January 1st, sterling was as low as 1.0187 versus the common currency. So it's since risen by +5.54% or over +6 cents.

As a result, when you transfer money from the UK to your Spanish bank account, you might now get a higher euro total than if you'd transferred money at the start of the year. In turn, this could make buying real estate in Mijas more affordable for you than 3 months ago.

For example, say that you intend to transfer £179,900 to Spain, to buy a 2-bedroom apartment with spectacular views in Benidorm. At the interbank exchange rate at the start of this year, this amount would have been worth 199,455.13€. By comparison, at the current interbank exchange rate, this amount would be worth 210,518.98€.

That's an increase of 11,063.85€, as the interbank exchange rate has increased in value in the past 3 months.

2. Progress in The UK's Brexit Talks Has Been A Big Factor in The Pound's Gains in 2019.

A notable reason for the rise in the value of the pound so far this year is the positive progress in the UK's Brexit talks.

For example, in the last fortnight, MPs in Parliament voted to forever take off the table the possibility of a 'No Deal' Brexit. This brought relief to financial markets, who'd thought that the UK might exit without a deal, so contributed to boosting the pound.

What's more, last week the EU's 27 leaders voted to give the UK more time to negotiate Brexit. This suggests that the European Union wants to retain close ties with the UK, and so has reassured British businesses and investors. This too has helped lift the exchange rate.

So to conclude, the interbank exchange rate has risen notably since the start of this year. This may be useful information for you, to help you decide when to transfer money to Spain, to buy real estate in Benidorm!

By Peter Lavelle at foreign exchange broker Pure FX, a trading name of Foreign Currency Direct Plc https://www.purefx.co.uk peter.lavelle@purefx.co.uk