Number of second homes owned by UK-residents in Europe 2008-2014, by location
Increasing purchasing power and decreasing unemployment provides European consumers with more confidence to enter the housing market, either to buy or to rent a house. Also, the monetary policy of the European Central Bank (ECB) allows for favorable lending conditions. Due to the ECB's artificially low interest rates, mortgage loans in Europe also have low interest rates and become more attractive to buy for consumers as lending has become cheaper.