Europe woke up to a surprise this morning.
The UK Conservative Party failed to gain a bigger majority in the UK General Election meaning its position and authority is automatically weakened in its plans to negotiate a hard Brexit (where the UK gives up full access to the single market and takes control of its borders).
This election was basically a public referendum on how the UK conducts its negotiations with the EU and now a softer Brexit deal is more likely.
A soft Brexit is preferred by many ‘Remainers’ in the UK (remember that the referendum to leave the EU resulted in a very narrow margin of 52% leave to 48% remain).
It increases the likelihood that the UK will continue to access the single market without tariffs and will remove many doubts over London’s financial hub status.
The status of EU nationals moving across boarders will probably remain unchanged, although this has never been a factor preventing buyers outside the EU buying and owning property in Austria.
We have many buyers from countries outside the EU e.g. Australia, South Africa, Norway and the US.
Economically, the UK and Europe are looking at a period of greater economic stability compared to the disruption of a hard Brexit. The Pound will benefit and so will those buying Austrian property in Sterling.
Meanwhile, Austrian property’s reputation as a safe-haven investment has further been enhanced as it continues to record growth of 4.6% in Q1 2017. It outperformed France (2.9%) and Switzerland (2.4%), according to the Knight Frank Global House Price Index.
