The middle class family home cannot find buyers, according to real estate firm Alpha. The purchases, which have occurred, are mostly in the region of extreme prices, or homes in luxury areas or affordable housing below 150,000 euros.
Luxury homebuyers are Spaniards and foreigners, once identified the property they like, "They are fast and agile in closing the transaction knowing that they will no longer find these prices," says Jesus Duque, vice president of Alpha Real Estate
The other type of housing is property with a price close to 150,000 euros. In this case it is mainly small investors or savers who seeing the low returns that banks offer, choose to invest in an asset, which in the medium to long term, has always been profitable. In many cases, transactions are made in cash, without applying for a mortgage which does complicate matters increases the cost of the operation." As with high-value transactions, the acquisitions are also closed in a very short space of time, with no beating about the bush” says Duque.
Alpha Real Estate concludes that the family home of the middle class has no buyers. Properties, which are having most problems selling, are those that range between 250,000 and 500,000 euros. These properties, with an average size of 100 to 200 m2, located in medium or large residential housing developments, are far more complicated to change hands.
The problems that owners face are many. The first is the large existing supply. The second, the difficulty - or impossibility – for the buyer to obtain financing and finally, the resistance from the sellers to lower their prices and accept the fact that if they want to sell their flat now, they should be adapting the price to the current market , even though it may mean having to lose money, says Jesus Duque
However, their message is positive. "The Spanish real estate sector has started to recover and the proof is that it is generating great interest from large fortune holders and international funds, sooner or later this situation will spread to the entire real estate sector and all property will recover its value within reason" Duque concludes.