Yup, you read it right...
'Now is the time to buy!'
Controversial?..perhaps...Deluded?..maybe...Sound Reasoning?..Definitely!
Let me expain.
At the moment the Spanish property market is in the doldrums, unemployment has reached 20% and it's credit rating has been downgraded...so basically the economic outlook for Spain couldn't really get much lower or worse.
However the exchange rate between the £ and E hasn't really changed that much in the last 18 months, not since the heady days of getting almost E1.5 to the £ a couple of years ago, and yet the whole economic situation in the Eurozone particularly Greece, Portugal, Spain etc has deteriorated quite markedly.
Basic economics tells you that because of this then the Euro would have to reduce it's strength on the money markets but it hasn't, because none of these countries has any direct control of their currencies, which is manged by the Central European Bank, and which has kept the currency strong.
Alternatively at the same time the £ has been devalued on the money markets as we have struggled through this recession, from which we are now just starting to see shoots of recovery. The Eurozone however is not, it is only now just starting to encounter and then ride the problems from Greece, Portugal and Spain....infact this problem could without really exaggerating the point take years to sort out and balance the books.
So what is most likely to happen?
Well in my opinion the exchange rate between the £ and E cannot be sutained at present levels as the Euro as a currency will have to devalue itself, leading to more 'bang for your buck' so to speakl. This coupled with a property market in the UK which has shown up to 10% growth in the last year will once again start the steady drip feed of people thinking along the lines that the rest of us have...ie 'We'd love a place in the sun!'
These things taken together can mean only one thing, that property prices will start to pick up once the rest realise that their money will go a little further in Spain nad that property they've always wanted would now be in reach due to the massive reductions available.....prices which in all honesty just cannot be maintained at such low levels.
The old adage of 'What goes up must come down,' cannot be more true even when reversed, 'What goes down must come up!'
So cheer up people, if like me you bought a couple of years ago you have made a paper loss, but thats all it is, a paper loss.
No-one has died and there might, just might be a glimmer of good news approaching beyond the horizon.
'When there is blood on the streets it's the time to buy' - Lord Rothschild
Which couldn't be more apt considering the recent riots in Greece.
