I've listened to Rixxy's interview with Justin (well, half of it anyway, haven't had time for all of it yet!) and as usual she makes many very good points, and truly does give a balanced view of the market, so why the producers of this show didn't have to cojones to broadcast the other bits that I'm sure they filmed with her, I'll never know. For example, they showed her admitting that she has to deal with a lot of unhappy people who find themselves forced to sell at a loss, but I know she would have gone on to explain that the flip side is that she has a lot of happy clients who benefit by being able to snap up genuine bargains. Swings and roundabouts, but they didn't portray that side of it.
I used to think Trev McD. was a respected serious journalist, now I realise he's just another sensation-monger jumping on the tabloid bandwagon. Shame on him! The presenter even said that a lot of bad press has had a negative effect on the British perspective of the Spanish property market - and then proceeded to give us more!
With the possible exception of the section on the Valencia Land Grab, which is a real nightmare situation for those involved, the rest was just the usual no-brainer stuff. Over supply of new property (obvious to anybody who knows what a crane looks like) and buyers over-commiting themselves after falling for sharp sales patter (unfortunate, but nobody else's fault but their own).
What really bothers me about all this (& why I'm on my soapbox repeating what I've said many times before), is that anybody tuning in who is not familiar with Spain, would think that newly built apartment complexes in the middle of nowhere, with no existing infrastructure to speak of other than a proposed golf course, constitutes "The Spanish Property Market", and that the only people participating in said market are the British.
I have lived in Spain for 10 years, and the first time I even saw one of these urbanizations that are depicted in the program tonight, and all the tabloid splashes, was last year on the way back from a trip to Tarifa. Sorry, can't remember what it's called, and even if I could, I wouldn't say, for fear of offending someone who bought a property there, thinking they were buying their dream home. Right on the beach (lovely beach, too), beautiful tropical gardens, exotic swimming pools, ample parking (understatement, since there were no other cars around) on-site supermarket (one - closed for the season) and one bar, with a bored manager who told us it does get "fairly busy" in August. It was certainly peaceful - this was in September - but then I don't think you could even find the place on a map, so it's no wonder.
Rixxy kindly invited me to attend the auction, and possibly be filmed giving my opinion of the market etc. She knows that I don't buy into this crash thing, and perhaps hoped that I might be able to contribute to the positive side of the coin, but obviously they would have cut me off in my prime, so I'll stick to ranting here!
I still believe that all these stories focus purely on the British punters who buy into the dream of owning a place in the sun on what amounts to a holiday complex, without fully understanding what they are getting into. These same people would almost certainly not consider buying two or three off-plan properties at, say Alton Towers, and expect to make a killing, so why do they think they can do it in Spain? None of these programs or articles bother to mention that ordinary Spaniards are still living, working, going about their daily lives and buying and selling their homes, just as millions of Brits do all the time, in the places where they live, work and go about their daily lives. Sure, prices soared during the last 5 years or so and have now stabilised to say the least. And....? What's new? That's the property market - here, the UK, anywhere. It has it's ups and downs, just like any other market (shares, for example). So what?
I'll continue to buy when I find a good property in a good location at a good price, and sell when I think I can make a good return on it. I'm not a big investor, nor a "speculator", just an ordinary guy who still believes in bricks and mortar being a sound investment - so long as you use a bit of common sense and don't see things through rose tinted specs.
And every so often, if I happen to be passing nowhere (especially if I'm near the middle of it) I'll drop in and have a beer with the bar man, to cheer him up while he awaits August and the expected crowds.
I've no doubt p*ssed off several people with this rant, in which case I apologise, but you are free to air your own opinion, whether you agree or not with me, so I'll get off this thread now and go look for trouble elsewhere so that someone else can have a go!