There is definitely an increase of interest in property here.

 www.express.co.uk/posts/view/241760/Rush-for-homes-in-Spain-as-prices-plunge

 That is interesting -  and good news I think?????   I have to be honest, if I was looking for property in Spain now, I would be going after one of the luxury 4 or 5 bedroom villas, as opposed to the (lovely) two bedroom property I bought.  I would not be able to resist the temptation!!!!!   I think it does indicate, though it is only one article, that the demand or lack of demand for Spanish property, follows the financial situation and I would be surprised if significant numbers of buyers were put off by the various problems there have been. Let us hope though that when a significant recovery comes (10 years or more down the line I am guessing), we will not see the overbuild on the costas and building of new so called 'luxury' country club resorts.   

 a good indication is that August is usually a "dead duck" for sales......this year there has been quite a bit of interest and Septemebr is looking very busy so far....i agree the recovery of prices is a long way off but People are now buying property at 50,000€ that would have been twice that 5 years ago...this has opened the door to a new set of buyers with much smaller budgets.

I am not saying there is a huge rush but a constant trickle is much prefered anyway.

The market is good for buyers but sadly not for those selling. I try not to look at the property pages as I look  at what I could buy now with the amount I paid 7 years ago. It's depressing stuff.

 7 years ago it was a fantastic market for sellers.........now the balance of power has switched.......it will turn again,it always does.

It just a matter of being on the right side of the fence at the right time!!

I sense the market has further to fall & it will be a LONG bottom.

Wish the news was better for anyone trying to sell or recover equity.

Cheers,

Jon

PS: its interesting the survey appears to have been conducted by a property company & foreign exchange firm !!!

In general, if I were thinking of buying I would wait a lo longer, I suspect prices have a long way to fall yet, before they bottom-out

PS Aplogies but estate agnets would like us to believe things are getting better (Georgia is an estate agent I beleve)

It's all hype

Tell enough people and you start believing it yourself

It's time we started a rumour - prices soaring on CDS - up 20% on last months - not enough property to go around - queues forming

Where we are on the western costa del sol, the market looks dead.  More and more property is coming on to the market, with lots of bank repos.  One change I have noticed is that a lot of shiny, brand new "se vende" signs have been put up to replace the old ones.  Presumably because they've been on the market so long, the sun/rain has wrecked the original signs.  Quite funny really.

Unbelievably, they're also still completing properties in certain places, although nothing like the scale during the boom years.

Anyone buying a property in Spain while the eurozone crisis is in full swing, is mad in my opinion.  The eurozone banking system looks to be on the brink of collapse...

 I suggest to also factor in buy/sell costs of about 16% & CONSIDER how long will it take for prices to increase 16% i.e. so you can just break even !! Viewing it from another angle - the buy/sell costs equate to about 4 years rental costs !!

Still, I am receptive to buying eventually PROVIDED the deal is right.

Cheers,

Jon

Not sure what the problem is.

Say you bought a place valued at €100k back in 2007 when the exchange rate was 1.45 Euro's to the pound and the value of the property has supposedly dropped 30%.  You now want your money back in £ which is currently 1.15 Euro's to the pound.  There's not much in it is there? 

Of course, the real problem is the € 80k mortgage you took out at a rate of 1.45 which was around £ 55k back in 2007.  At a rate of 1.15 today that's now a £ 69k debt!!!!

Of course, all this only matters if you are forced to sell.  Property always has been a long term game.  Those 'place in the sun' programs have a lot to answer for.

This message was last edited by oliverson on 19/08/2011.

Like JON07 I have always maintained Spain was never a good country for investment becuase of high acquisition and disposal costs and also the difficulty of selling (even in the good days).

A few made profit on buying multiple units and flipping them pre-completion but not the second wave.

Remember if you can see a band wagon you are too late to get on it - Sir James Goldsmith

 Oliverson is spot on - property anywhere is a long term gain,and should be viewed as such.   I would also add - no one should buy in a country they are not committed to - and where they are comfortable and like the lifestyle.   I say again, as I have said many times, the price inflation and the overbuild was simply a response to overseas buyers who often thought they might make a quick buck.   Doubtless some did, but the people who really made money (as well as the developers) are the ones who bought in the early waves of development, because they wanted a place in Spain, kept the house for 20 years or so and then sold.  I have a friend who has been able to retire on the proceeds of a villa he bought in Marbella in 1985 - and good luck to him.  He has put a lot into the country using it as a holiday home for a lot of years.  And never once have I heard him talk about his property in terms of profit.   It is not just A Place in the Sun that has a lot to answer for - but Property Ladder and all the others which have led people to believe they have a God given right to make a fortune out of property.

Property is a gamble, you have to have a back up plan if it goes belly up!!!  

 Government hast just reduced the VAT of new built houses from 8% to 4% till next december the 31st, 2011

Brian:

You are absolutely right.  Very well said.

Patricia

That really is going help those who have over streched themselves and now want to resell their property.

Why didn't they just do it across the board ?  Or is that too simple ?

I entirely echo Campana's sentiment below.

We plan to rent initially & we  buy provided we are convinced Spain will be home >10 years. Our decision will be determined primarily by LIFESTYLE  not investment i.e. the culture, food, mountains, European base  etc.

Money is not everything !!!

CHEERS,

JON

Don't listen to estate agents saying the market is picking up.  Here's the real situation:

Spanish home sales in June were the lowest since the property crash began, show the latest figures from Spain's Statistics Institute.

There were 24,699 home sales in June (excluding social housing), down 26% on the same time last year, below even June 2009, when the crash was thought to be at its worst.

If the drop continues at the same rate for the remainder of 2011, it would lead to the worst single year for the Spanish property market in 30 years.

Source: Sky News

 Also interesting - these things are of course regional and the figures taken across the whole of Spain do not reflect necessarily the situation on the costas, which is where more northern European people buy.  Unemployment in Spain is extraordinarly high - so it makes absolute sense that Spanish people are not buying at all.  But I also understand that Madrid has virtually cleared its backlog of new builds (that was in El Mundo some time ago - and also good news I think).  SO an overall fall does not mean increased activity in some regions is not happening.   A bit like when in the UK they say house prices have risen blah blah - the regional variation is enormous and it is no good looking at London if you live in Leeds!!