Is Spanish property the last pocket of value in Europe?

With banks offloading assets and the Spanish stock market on the up over the past 18 months, some see now as a good time to invest in one of the biggest losers of the eurozone crisis.

At the height of the boom, Spanish real estate and construction accounted for some 18% of Spanish GDP, but the sector has fallen a long way since: a 2007 market cap of over €30bn has shrunk to just a tenth of that level post-crisis. This year, however, there have been some solid signs of interest finally returning, not least the five Spanish real estate investment trust listings seen since January. The largest, the Merlin Properties REIT raised $1.7bn last month. But demand from even the largest investors is not yet fully entrenched - the company had originally planned to raise $2bn. ...