The stats seem to vary and as you would expect differ from area to area ...in general over the last 12 months circa 10% but in reality 2009 is a great time for negotiating a good dicount off asking prices
Many ready now completed developments have offers of 25/30% off the original asking prices which were often set 18/24 months ago
This applies now to Polaris World who along with all developers with stock to sell will listen to offers
If you are buying then the % drop is not the main issue...it is what you can get for the money you want to spend on a life style buy
as in UK the only sellers are those who have to ,so you may come across a home you like where the owner will not drop their price as they do not need to sell...so you move on until you find something you like which is either a distressed sale or an urgent one
A good example is a 2 bed duplex , original price paid circa 175€ now has to be sold asap and owner will take 109.000 € to get out
If you are a serious life style buyer, then I would not leave it too long to start looking as with an improving exchange rate interest from UK buyers is a lot more positive and if the trend continues then you may find that the demand will increase and sellers will start to harden their attitude to big discounts on asking prices
Also there are signs that the economies of the northern EU countries are starting to improve and move into growth again which will again play a part in the increase in demand
In the medium term I think that Russia and the old eastern block will become active buyers in Spain when their economies start to catch up with the west and the enlarged middle class ,who are now tasting the Spanish Costas with holidays, will aspire to buy their own place in the sun