Daily Mail Scaremongering?

Is it really as bad as the Mail makes out? When I look at property websites, the asking prices seem to me to have hardly dropped at all over the last few years. Am I mistaken or are they having to agree massive reductions to sell, which is not reflected in the asking prices or simply keeping the prices up and hoping!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1359029/They-dreamt-better-life-Costas-Now-villa-values-HALVED-pensions-crashed--afford-come-home-Now-really-bad-news-worse.html

  Around here one of the builders used to ask 160,000€ for a 2 bed 2 bath property. Those same hoarding nw are asking 108,000€ for slightly different style but 2 bed 2 bath properties. On the other hand, there is anoter block of apartments that are on three storeys plus basement, 3 bed 2 bath with underground double garage that were priced around 230,000€ 3 years ago. That builder has refused to drop prices and as a consequence, only about 20 are occupied.

Having read the Daily Mail story, I feel a great deal of sympathy for the people concerned, however the Daily Mail is only telling one side of the story (there's a surprise!)

We know many other expat pensioners living in our area who are more than happy with their lives and have no intention of returning to the UK, even though their pensions have gone down in value.   Having said that, some of them admit that they would have difficulty in selling their properties if they wanted to move, but are adamant that they are happy to stay where they are.

We live inland, where property values have been more stable than on the coast.  A friend of us used to work in a local estate agent and said that most Spanish people refuse to drop the asking price just to get a sale!  Looking at new properties here, the prices haven't dropped but the developers are offering extras to purchasers.

Sue 

There is a lot of truth in that article.

Every week I get emails from people desperate to sell for one reason or another.

It is almost impossible to sell unless the property ticks all the right boxes and even then it has to be discounted to even get any viewings at all.

It is a buyers market and those buying are really getting some serious bargains.

But the outlook is bleak and always rumours of futher falls.

Dear All,

it is all very simple, if you don't believe it and you are in denial JUST TRY TO SELL and then you will soon realise how true it is.

It reads exactly like honest people telling their story with full transparency.

Faro tells it just as it is.

If only I could get my deposit back, I would be seriously looking, tell the government.

If only.......if only......if only!!!!!!!

Regards

Norman

In the Manilva area (western Costa del Sol), prices are down by 50% from the peak.  And even with the big drops, nothing is selling, which suggested prices are still too high.

Is it scaremongering ?  I think so , the story was more or less written before the Mail came to Spain!

http://www.theentertaineronline.com/news.php?item.1472.4

With regards to the 1st couple , if you can shift 450k in less than 7 years , plus his earnings from a part time job ,  ( probably un-declared as well ! ) you've only yourself to blame.  " we lived really well, going out for meals and for day trips — a night in was a rarity,’ says Marian."   Says it all doesn't it ?

If they'd priced it sensibly in 2007 instead of trying for an unrealistic 175K ,profit it would have sold easily.

goslopez - these stories sell papers but it's not that far from the truth and there are many people who cannot sell and some are in negative equity situations and stuck.

Many were slow to accept the fall and have been reducing selling price ever since and maybe they are still asking too much if they really want to sell.

Take into account acquisition and disposal costs and the fall in value and you would be well short.

Also they probably invested too much in the property and did not leave themselves enough cash to live on.

I could add a few genuine cases to this story.

I did not buy as an investment so am very happy with my lot. I never put all my eggs in one basket, a rule that most people ignore and tend to blame others when the basket is empty [ n.s.] comes to mind.

I did not buy as an investment so am very happy with my lot. I never put all my eggs in one basket, a rule that most people ignore and tend to blame others when the basket is empty [ n.s.] comes to mind.

I did not buy to invest so am very happy. The saying,don't put all your eggs in one basket, is ignored by many and they blame some other person or company when the basket is empy [n.s.] comes to mind, silly fool. I lost mony buying off plan but had another basket with all the eggs in.As for the daily mail you would be beter reading Harry Potter

clicky finger  sorry folks

Norman says:

"it is all very simple, if you don't believe it and you are in denial JUST TRY TO SELL and then you will soon realise how true it is."

What about those of us who are more than happy with our lot and don't want to sell?

Steve

As Steve says, some of us are happy where we are and don't want to sell. 

Let's be honest, there are probably people in the UK as well who want to sell their house and can't, or who haven't had any acceptable offers and will lose money if they do sell.  Negative equity isn't just a Spanish phenomenon!

Sue

The truth is that very little is selling at the moment. Prices of English owned properties have often gone down by half in many cases.

Buyers WHO CAN  purchase are onto a good thing at the moment. Spanish owners in many cases are totally refusing to drop their prices, their answer is we will wait then untill things revert to normal.

It easy to say but English owners can only hope to sit it out, It will get better you only need to look at property trends over the years.

One interesting way out for owners who do not reside in their premises is to let them out as long term rentals (11 month maximum) This way the property can go back onto the market when things start to move again.

Regards

Ian

Didn't read the whole article 'cos it got a bit boring (not like it's anything new). Some spot on comments here, like Suemac: "Negative equity isn't just a Spanish phenomenon", and Faro: "Also they probably invested too much in the property and did not leave themselves enough cash to live on". So true! Whilst I feel sorry for anyone who finds themselves in a place (literally and metaphorically) that they don't want to be........

That first couple landed in Spain in 2004 with around one and a half MILLION euros. At that time, they could have bought themselves a very nice 2/2 apartment on the coast for a couple of hundred thousand - probably half that on the Costa Blanca - and put the rest in a fixed rate deposit paying 5% which would have given them an income of around 50 thousand euros a year (after tax!) whilst sitting on their backsides sipping sangria. Who the */!@# was advising them????

Dear All,

so there you have it, informed and sensible opinion supports the article completely.

it seemed that the builder, seeking to semi-retire in the sun had to persuade the lady to follow his dream.

she had to have something at least as good as they had in the UK, she wasn't into "downsizing", she had to be tempted.

like many one had to have room for family visitors plus the luxuries to tempt them also.

at the time there were very few "hindsight" people to advise against investing in Spain, which had in fact made many millionaires already, including some on this forum.

as to UK prices, my son had his terraced property valued recently resulting in a reduction of £6,000 in six years "investment".

not exactly much good to someone expecting the historic doubling every seven years, but not to be compared with parts of Spain.

but not negative equity either.

Other parts of the UK have not fared so well no doubt.

But of course none of this matters a jot to those not needing to sell or even value there contented properties.

Losing something on the market is one thing, being robbed is quite another, but there was no scaremongering.

Regards

Norman

It seems to me like a "scape forward", is her life going to be problem-saved  in the UK?

I of course sympathise with her situation, but maybe we all need to adjust to new times and keep going ahead with what we chose and have. We may discover much more good than expected.

Maybe he can rent out to young  Spanish wanting to learn the English language with her or even adults.... let´s explore new possibilities and do not get trapped by difficulties!

I sold my flat in Calahonda 2 weeks ago. I bought off plan in 2003 and the price  I sold for 2 weeks ago was 48% below the price I paid in 2003. However, if I work out the net yield you would get on the 2011 sale price of 110,000 euros - you are still only going to get a yield of 3.5% after expenses. So for these properties to look appealing to investors either rents have to go up or prices have to fall further for yields to become attractive.

Dear All,

a very good reply from a young lady not thinking it through.

the lady concerned had all her own doubts about the move and has now lost her life partner and "leader and provider" , because us oldies have the traditional view of the male/female relationship.

In any case it requires a good degree of absolute selfishness to upsticks and abandon ones family to luxuriate oneself in the sun as ex-pats do.

My daughter yesterday left her youngest (2 year old daughter) with us whilst she went in search of a suitable pony for her 11 year old daughter to ride.

She was of course an exhausting joy to us for a whole day.

I am afraid we could never become ex-pats even if we have to semi-hibernate in the winter here.

Perhaps Maria's father would feel the same?

Regards

Norman