Is it a good time to buy?

I am talking about a beautifull area with great scenery, no urbanisations, traditional with just enough expats. You could rent if you wanted from 150 euros a month, what are the rents in Sotogrande?

I have just spotted this thread had I seen it before I would have replyed earlier.

I respect your opinion and in parts I agree. There have been " Oversupply, shoddy builders, greedy developers, unscrupulous agents, dodgy banks, corrupt local politicians" and the usual candidates that come with a bubble market. This is exactly what you find with the gold market at the moment and the 90s boom in tech shares. However the good thing about a recession is that it is like a forest fire and clears all the dead wood out, leaving the perfect environment for growth. For example here in Granada all planning issues for new buildings and multiple dwellings now have to be approved by the Junta de Andalucia ( regional Andalucian government) in Sevilla. New Urban Plans have to be approved by Sevilla. This will curb over supply and local political corruption. Developers have to work on much tighter margins than before and new developments fall into similar profit yields currently experienced in the UK. Bad agents have gone to the wall and out of business whilst new laws and protocols have been introduced to police agents and make false information and lack of paperwork a criminal offence. The fines that can be imposed are as high as €10,000 and prison sentences the norm in cases of fraud. There are still crooks out there, everywhere, in every country and for that reason you must get the right advice and proceed with your eyes open. I know Spain is not perfect. I do not know where is. But Spain is gettings it´s act together. This recession will help Spain mature and become one of the leading countries in Europe.
When deciding whether to buy property in Spain the real question is of economics and alternatives.

The alternative to buying is renting and that is an option. Problems you will find will be all the same as renting in the UK plus a few extras. Many of the good properties want summer rents in the summer and a six month winter let, as they can earn 4 times more for holiday rentals. There is no deposit guarantee scheme. The legal process is very slow to resolve any disputes (repairs etc).

The overall economic situation points to Global inflation as USA and the UK print money (quantative easing) which despite the rhetoric, the European Bank will have to do. They are already on this road by buying Irish, Portugese, Spanish, Greek and Italian bonds. This action will always lead to inflation...it is the only way to get the value of the debt reduced. It is at this point that you will want your money in an appreciating asset as a hedge against inflation. Those who have savings in cash deposits will see the real value be eroded over time. At this moment in time my advice to buyers is to look for property which can be bought at approx 40% discount to highest asking prices of 2007. Then apply a notional ceiling of (€1000/ m2 constructed (average cost to build here in Granada)) + (no. of m2 of plot x local average e/m2) x 110% ( allowance for architects, taxes etc). When you can buy an established house for less than you can build it you will not go to too far wrong. Medium to long term price trends for raw materials are not getting cheaper (The General Building Cost Index UK rose by 3.4% in the year to 2nd quarter 2011). Look for established houses rather than new builds so you can see how the building is aging and if there is any movement. Works on an existing building or the construction of a building carried out more than 4 years ago without any complaint (expediente) from the town hall cannot normally be legally acted upon by the town hall. However you may not be able to register that building or part thereof in the land registry. There are lots of other tips to lengthy to go into here.

As Warren Buffet ( the most successful investor in the world) says "We simply attempt to be fearful when others are greedy and to be greedy only when others are fearful". He also said "Risk comes from not knowing what you're doing" so make sure you do your homework and get some good advice.

 The theory is excellent but is the advice good?

There is no difficulty in valuing a property anywhere - it is worth just as much as the buyer is prepared to pay. If the seller does not wish to accept this price then the seller is not serious about selling.

 The theory is excellent but is the advice good?

There is no difficulty in valuing a property anywhere - it is worth just as much as the buyer is prepared to pay. If the seller does not wish to accept this price then the seller is not serious about selling.

It's Good News Day, for a freind of mine who has been trying to sell a studio in Mijas for several years.  

He has just SOLD !!!!!!

I am not suggesting that this means property has started to sell, just that he got lucky.

Gr8 news John.  Interesting reading posts here from 2010 and many saying prices are stabilising and it's a good time to buy!  I think we're in for an even bumpier ride, watch prices at end of this year.  It might be a good time to buy when the eurozone is sorted out, but while this nightmare is still happening i don't think its a good time to buy.  Someone mentioned QE, well its never worked in the past!  Look at Germany in the 30's wheelbarrows full of money and bread couldn't be bought! 

Johnzx, that is good news for your friend. I know the relief when a property finally sells after being on the market for a long time. We had a villa near Alicante brought in the 80's and we finally had the money from the sale in our account this month after being on the market for 2-years.

So for us it was good as we can mow complete our European adventure (we lived in Europe for 40-years) and return to my native Australia; and it was good for the purchaser who got a nice villa at a fair price.

David

 Now is definitely NOT a good time to buy in Spain nor many other Eurozone countries if you're British.

Despite prices in Spain falling up to 50%, and more, the Pound also has fallen from it's highs of 1.64 which we bought property at to around 1.15-1.20 currently against the Euro, approximately the pound is trading about  30-40% lower.

In real terms for Brits, you're hardly getting a bargain in Spain, very often paying the same in Sterling terms as you would have years ago.

Plus the Eurozone problems still persist, already the attention is switching to Spain and it's Banks, there could still be mayhem to come, and if that happens, property prices will fall further in Eurozone countries.

You may end up buying a dated property now and poorly built too, and with Spain's vast unsold oversupply of properties to shift first, now is not the time to buy!

I totally agree Scambuster, it is the very worst time to buy anywhere in the eurozone.  Still never mind Burma is now on the map for buying lol!!!!!!!

A good time to buy? The clues are all around. How many Spanish property magazines do you see on the shelves at WH Smith? At one point there were about 6 - now they've either gone bust or Smith's won't stock them cos noone is buying them. Shelf space needed for all thing new and shiny not a market that has clearly collapsed. Noone can sell, noone wants to buy, noone buying ads in magazines magazines going bust.