Spain Real Estate News

Polaris World said:
Friday, January 8, 2010 @ 8:50 PM

Some positive signs which is a far cry from 12 months ago! A pick up in the domestic market will help the coastal properties anyway. Also what we have seen on the Polaris World resorts in Murcia that helps the market is more realistic pricing. Even if it does mean the bank owns the property and sells it for the mortgage value. We are starting to see a return of bargain hunters with some properties 50% of their previous value and 90% mortgages on offer.

Moraira Property said:
Monday, January 11, 2010 @ 11:59 AM

Nobody is suggesting that the Spanish Property market is easy or it is out of the woods yet but this article is good news. We are seeing an increase in activity and are grateful for it!

Vernon White said:
Tuesday, May 4, 2010 @ 2:33 PM

Please don`t be silly enough to actually think prices in Spain are rising , they are still overpriced by as much as 50% in some cases , Banks would LOVE you all to beleive prices are rising as thats the only way they can , like the Govt make any money now, we offered on a place that needed lots of money and work on it , been on the market for 3 years , dropped from 265000 euros slowly to 110,000 , we offered last Oct 80,000 as its now degrading rapidly due to being unlived in and damper by the day
did they accept, did they hell , 6 months later we are emailed by the Agent that would we accept a price of 87,000 , no would wouldn`t , we are not interested because we happen to know that with all the heavy rain all winter that the place is leaking like a sieve now , yes we knew the whole roof needed replacing as did the Spanish owners !! So , while you have idiots trying to demand stupid prices , Spanish AND Brits the property market will never move on , too much greed and lying going on, even now !! All Agents across Spain should now all refuse to accept properties that are veastly overpriced , it helps no one , the properties become `stale` , the Agents look daft by even offering such stupid places at such overpriced properties, no one sells, no one buys and the market collapses even further !!
So please you vendors, take a few minutes ti actually look at the market and what has actually sold, you will SEE that only sensibly priced properties will sell , buyers are too well informed these days AND very up to date on prices ALL over Europe and most buyers are also too well educated for fall the the old crap and waffle , Spain, move on , get into the real world or the buyers will either simply all walk away while your ruins and houses fall apart for no buyers or you may find just when you really DO become serious to sell that buyers will in turn treat you all with contempt and screw you all for a change , how would you all like that , change now or that is going to happen, I for one will offer at least 40% less when I come across a plce that I like and overpriced , some have been on the websites for years and still trying to sell, do you all think we are blind ?
May as well look to buy in UK, its regulated, properties are priced reasonably , ther is EMPLOYMENT here and the Stamp Duty is still a reasonable figure , not the increase that Spain is imposing in June, another 1 % , now thats what I call really great thinking , kick the market down more when no one is selling or buying.... only in Spain eh ?

Vernon White said:
Tuesday, May 4, 2010 @ 2:36 PM

Please don`t be silly enough to actually think prices in Spain are rising , they are still overpriced by as much as 50% in some cases , Banks would LOVE you all to beleive prices are rising as thats the only way they can , like the Govt make any money now, we offered on a place that needed lots of money and work on it , been on the market for 3 years , dropped from 265000 euros slowly to 110,000 by the time we found it, we offered last Oct 80,000 as its now degrading rapidly due to being unlived in and damper by the day
did they accept, did they hell , 6 months later we are emailed by the Agent that would we accept a price of 87,000 , no would wouldn`t , we are not interested because we happen to know that with all the heavy rain all winter that the place is leaking like a sieve now , yes we knew the whole roof needed replacing as did the Spanish owners !! So , while you have idiots trying to demand stupid prices , Spanish AND Brits the property market will never move on , too much greed and lying going on, even now !! All Agents across Spain should now all refuse to accept properties that are veastly overpriced , it helps no one , the properties become `stale` , the Agents look daft by even offering such stupid places at such overpriced properties, no one sells, no one buys and the market collapses even further !!
So please you vendors, take a few minutes ti actually look at the market and what has actually sold, you will SEE that only sensibly priced properties will sell , buyers are too well informed these days AND very up to date on prices ALL over Europe and most buyers are also too well educated for fall the the old crap and waffle , Spain, move on , get into the real world or the buyers will either simply all walk away while your ruins and houses fall apart for no buyers or you may find just when you really DO become serious to sell that buyers will in turn treat you all with contempt and screw you all for a change , how would you all like that , change now or that is going to happen, I for one will offer at least 40% less when I come across a plce that I like and overpriced , some have been on the websites for years and still trying to sell, do you all think we are blind ?
May as well look to buy in UK, its regulated, properties are priced reasonably , ther is EMPLOYMENT here and the Stamp Duty is still a reasonable figure , not the increase that Spain is imposing in June, another 1 % , now thats what I call really great thinking , kick the market down more when no one is selling or buying.... only in Spain eh ?

Brian Coaker said:
Sunday, June 13, 2010 @ 9:05 PM

I have just returned from a trip to Spain,to buy a villa,I found that the banks were trying to unload the properties they had forclosed on but unlike in England were not selling at discount price,and then chase the former owner for the rest of the money,this is very stupid of them,I suspect they have these properties on there books showing a profit ie worth more than the mortgage owed on it,they are just putting off the day when they will have to sell,already some banks are in trouble and being saved by the goverment.
The one thing you notice when you are in the various estate agents in spain is the phone never rings,just imagine being in a high street estate agents in England for say 30 minutes without the phone going,it shows no matter what they say the market is still very slow the only properies they are selling are the ones that are priced right ,on 600,000 euro properties sellers that want to sell are coming down 120,000 euros,and that ratio of discount is right down to the 100,000 euro property,I have even seen a couple of 450,000 euro properties where they say make any offer

Spanish Mortgages said:
Friday, July 9, 2010 @ 6:35 PM

Vernon and Brian are both correct but the story is a little more complicated. It is true that in certain very specific areas it would appear prices have bottomed out. This would include areas like the Golden Mile in Marbella. It is also true bargains can be found and buyers whilst not at the heady levels of previous years do still exist.

However, in reality the general market picture is less positive. Until the Spanish Banks own up to the level of stock they either own due to repossession or own due to the fact they are a business partner in the relevant development and accept the write down they clearly will need to take prices will not bottom out.

There is still a real non-acceptance of the situation they are in. Banks are preferring to offer more lucrative mortgage offers for their owned stock in an effort to move it rather than be realistic on price. Whilst a 100% mortgage or a payment holiday clearly makes buying more attractive; most potential clients whether resident or on resident will not pay well over the odds for the property just because the mortgage terms are more attractive than normal.

A balance of the two is required. Realistic pricing and flexible mortgages; responsibly granted to ensure client affordability.

The banks have many pressures and before prices crashed, were willing to take back as payment for debt the property with no further responsibility for the owner. This was only in the cases where the bank genuinely believed sufficient equity remained allowing them to sell property and recoup full funds and was a better solution than having a client in arrears; having to move large amounts to their balance sheet; and having the added costs of following a full repossession process and going to court.

The process for repossessing in Spain is very costly and takes a long time. In the final analysis unlike the UK where the banks obtain a court order to enforce a sale in Spain they get a court order to take the property and must pay transfer taxes, upkeep community fees and IBI whilst it is owned on top of all the legal costs they incur. If a property is repossessed then the debt if property sale is not enough to cover it remains the responsibility of the mortgagee and they can be pursued until the difference is cleared just like in the UK.

For however the cost reasons it has not been unusual for banks to come to an agreement to take property without going through the legal process but by doing this they are allowing client to wash hand of debt. When they took over as much property as they did they had no idea how low prices would in fact drop.

The final piece of the jigsaw for the banks is that in many instances instead of lending to a developer for construction they became a business partner with the developer. This means in some instances they are in fact their own debtor. Where this is the case the banks are frantically trying to avoid moving the property risk to the balance sheet by not declaring it as a bad debt and hiding behind the fact they are their own debtor avoiding admitting their exact situation. Until all the banks own up to exactly how many new properties they are actually involved in as commercial ventures and take realistic steps to clear this stock the price of the standard two bed roomed apartment in coastal and City areas will not bottom out and recovery begin.