THE SPANISH PROPERTY MARKET - UPDATE

Boom or Bust

For many years now Spanish property has been highly sought after, especially by Northern Europeans, for both holiday home purposes and for permanent relocation.  Many British expatriates have, over recent years, adopted Spain in search of a less stressful and cheaper lifestyle, a warmer climate and a better quality of life.

Following many years of increasing prices the Spanish market appears to have temporarily stalled.  A rapid rise in prices occurred between 2002 and 2006 and the inevitable has now happened.  A mortgage culture grew, not just within the immigrant population but also within the Spanish population.  Contrary to popular belief it was not just the demand from outside Spain that has caused the problem.

Second home ownership is very common in Spain and ownership of holiday properties in the coastal areas, particularly the Costa del Sol, grew rapidly.  To meet this new demand - developers and speculators built new coastal developments at an alarming rate and eventually the supply caught up with and in some areas overtook the demand.

In addition to the above - a pensions crisis in the UK, a tax on second homes introduced by Germany, a property lull in the UK and other European countries, an increase in the popularity of the new territories such as Bulgaria and Croatia etc for holiday home purchase, a decline in the economy and more recently the drop in the value of the pound against the euro - has all combined to slow the Spanish property market down

Many thousands of Spanish Estate Agencies have closed down and the building sector has reduced its involvement in new develolpments considerably.

The year 2008 rather like 2007 is likely to be a slow one for property sales and the continued low value of the pound against the Euro is not going to help.

However, all is not doom and gloom - the climate is still the best in Europe, it is still as stress free as ever when compared with the hectic lifestyles in the UK and still it proves to be a better lifestyle for most of the expats who have settled here.  Moreover, with the slow down in the market, it is an excellent time to buy.  Many properties are reducing in price and owners seriously wanting to sell their properties here have realised that realistic offers need to be considered.  Compared with the top of the market in 2006 many properties are now selling at up to 30% less but it wont carry on at that low level indefinitely.  Many experts are prediciting that 2009/2010 will see a considerable revival in the property market which should coincide with an increase in the value of the pound again.  Spain will at last be in line with Northern Europe in that the property maket will have peaks and troughs and not just peak after peak which was the norm in the past.

A discerning buyer would be very wise to search out that dream property now and offer for it at a realistic level and then sit back and watch the investment grow.  The instability of many of the new territories may redirect the holiday home demand back to Spain, the economy will improve and mortgage demand will increase again, the pound will strengthen and the demand for property in Spain will again force up the prices.  The only statistic that wont change is the continuing flow of the Briitsh and Northern Europeans who continue to migrate to Spain in preference to seeing the decline in their own countries.

Inland Andalucia represents excellent value for money with property prices being far lower than those nearer to the coast.  There is still, however, a long way to go before prices in Inland Andalucia match those either on the coast or in the rest of Europe - now is definitely a good time to buy.

Please feel free to email your exact requirements of a dream home to us at Gateway to Andalucia - we very rarely fail to find exactly what the client wants and we help you far beyond the buying process and into helping you relocate and settle into your new lifestyle.

SPECIAL OFFERS

Any clients visiting Gateway to Andalucia can expect first class help in discussing and understanding every aspect of the process of property purchase in Spain - a comprehensive discussion about the full requirements that you have in a property together with a selection process to identify only the exact properties that meet all of those requirements to go out and view with us.

In addition we will provide one nights accommodation for two at a local Hotel to our offices in Casabermeja if you book a viewing visit in advance and if you purchase a property through us during that visit we will refund your air ticket costs to you up to a value of 300€ (payable at exchange of contracts).

During the purchase process all the facilities within our offices will be available to you during any visits that  you make, such as telephone, fax, email and secretarial.

We also offer free legal, financial, building, insurance, currency exchange and mortgage advice to you through our team of highly qualified professionals who you are able to check the credientials of in advance if you wish.  In addition we will help you with your relocation queries such as health care, schooling, banking, communications, transport etc.

We will do our utmost to ensure a smooth and trouble free transaction for you.

Email us with a "wish list" of requirements in your ideal property and leave the rest to us.

Hoping to hear from you soon.