During the Spanish property boom that took place during the earlier years of this decade, buyers became so caught up in the purchasing frenzy that the type of stock that they actually acquired really didn´t make too much of a difference to them. The most important thing in the (then) rising Spanish property market was to get a foot on the ladder, and with the glut of new-build 2 bedroom Spanish apartments that were built, most speculative investors ended up with this type of stock. If you analyse the proportion of 3 bed units that were actually built within any given development of apartments in places such as the Costa del Sol or the Costa Blanca , you will son realise that in most cases, only a small proportion of the development was allocated to 3 bed stock – normally the corner units and maybe some of the penthouses. So if we estimate that 3 bed apartments make up approximately 20% of the total number of apartments and penthouses within most developments in Spain , it is safe to assume that this ratio still applies in today´s rather more depressed and distressed Spanish property market. When we couple this with the fact that most buyers in today´s market are making the purchase with a longer-term vision and with the intention of using the properties themselves for family and friends, then a 3 bed property suddenly holds extra appeal. This is something that we have noticed in the last 6 months here at Your Key to Spain. Most enquiries via our website are from prospective purchasers looking for a 3 bed property in Spain . This presents the market with something of a problem. The glut of available stock is made up of 2 bed properties, while the majority of demand is focused on the harder-to-find, less frequently available 3 bed properties. Therefore while there are savage price wars developing between vendors of 2 bed Spanish properties in some developments, the well-located 3 bed units within the well-regarded projects are holding their own, and are actually sometimes in high demand. This doesn´t prevent eager buyers from expecting big discounts across all sectors of the Spanish property market, but prospective purchasers need to be realistic and take into account that smaller, micro-markets exist within the market as a whole, and these micro-markets are governed and manipulated in line with the same rules of supply and demand. Related Posts Everyone is after a Bargain Don´t Forget Spanish Property Purchase Costs! Don´t Buy Cheap – Buy Value!
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3 Bed Spanish Properties – Not as Cheap as You Think
I believe that the best way to go about searching for Spanish properties in the current market is as follows: 1. research the areas so that you have a specific location in mind, eg Marbella 2. browse the internet and speak to agents with properties advertised in your chosen area. 3. ask the agents how they work – do they have their own stock of properties and do they have access to any more? 4. ask them if they collaborate with other agents, and ask them if they work purely as ´property finders´ . With the sheer volume of properties in Spain for sale, many prospective buyers are turning to Property Finders for guidance. Here is why: Good property finders will have access to several thousand properties via their network of agents and the various multi-listing databases at their disposal. They will also have an intimate knowledge of your chosen location, and will be able to suggest plenty of options to help you. Property finders work by talking to you at length to ascertain your buying criteria, and they will then approach other agents via their network to get hold of the most suitable stock – imagine Phil and Kirsty on Location Location Location! This means that instead of only having a few hundred of the agent´s own properties to choose from, buyers can literally access the entire portfolio of available property in their chosen location. The other huge benefit is that buyers only need one point of contact to co-ordinate viewings, so rather than having to liasie with several different agents, you can work ´with´ the property finder very closely to fine-tune the search and secure the best property. Also, property finders have no allegiance to the vendors, so they are sure to try and secure the best possible deals for the buyer. Also, they are not tied by the handcuffs of representing both parties and so can give you their honest opinion of the Spanish properties that you are inspecting. And if you think this property finding service attracts an up-front cost, you are wrong. Property finders simply take a cut of the commission that the listing agent earns from the vendor. Related Posts Advice to Buyers – Who Can You Trust in the Spanish Property Market? - PART 1 The Weak Pound – Tips for UK Buyers of Spanish Property – Part 2 Mortgages in Spain
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Advice to Buyers – Who Can You Trust in the Spanish Property Market? - PART 2
The recent rise in the value of sterling against the euro has led to as much as a 40% increase in the number of Brits buying the European single currency. With the sterling euro exchange rate hovering at around 1.15 in recent days, many Brits who regarded this figure as a psychological trigger to exchange currencies have taken advantage of the 12% increase in sterling´s value within the last 12 months. One expert at Moneycorp , one of the leading foreign exchange specialists, whilst also reporting brisk activity, reckons that a large proportion of Brits are holding out for sterling to hit a level of 1.20 before committing to the single currency. It is thought that a change of government in the UK, added to an end to the current recession , could see that figure reached before the end of 2010, prompting thousands of potential British buyers to enter the Spanish property market. Related Posts Sterling on the Rise - Great News for British Buyers in Spain Sterling Exchange Rate Forces Spanish Property Buyers to Wait The Sterling Euro Exchange Rate – Does Anyone Really Understand?
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Sterling Rise Sees Brits Buying in Spain
Leading travel search website Skyscanner has revealed its top 50 most searched for destinations from UK airports for travel in 2010. Moving up one place from last year, Malaga is in top position, with Tenerife and Alicante in 2nd and 3rd positions respectively, meaning of course that Spanish airports occupy the top 3 places.In fact 11 Spanish destinations occupy places within the Top 50, with Palma, Lanzarote, Barcelona, Gran Canaria, Murcia, Ibiza, Fuerteventura and Madrid being the others to feature. Interestingly, the 2 Spanish airports suffering the biggest drop in positions within the Top 50 were Murcia (down 13 places) and Fuerteventura (down 10 places). Data is based on searches from UK airports for travel in 2010, using search data collected in the final quarter of 2009. Related Posts Easyjet Winter Schedule – not so easy anymore? Brits Behaving Badly in Spain? Are the Brits really leaving Spain? – PART 2
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Malaga is Top Flight Destination for Brits
It may be true that there is a glut of property for sale in Spain at the present time. Thousands of unwanted properties litter the Spanish costas, bought up by eager investors during the boom years, fuelled by expectations of rising prices and cheap finance. So you would think that there is more than enough Spanish properties for sale to satisfy the current demand…and let´s face it, although that demand is picking up, there aren´t exactly hordes of eager buyers battering down estate agents´ doors just yet! But this is where the whole thing gets a bit messy. The problem is that everyone is after the same thing. Not quite ´everyone´ of course, but after analysing the recent enquiries from our website, there is a definite trend. Most buyers now have a set of criteria that looks something like this: - Minimum 3 bedrooms - Walking distance to the beach - Walking distance to bars and restaurants - No more than 1 hour from an airport - Must be a great deal Of course, the budget varies, but more often that not, the other criteria are fairly constant. Whereas in the boom years, investors were buying up 2 bed apartments in the middle of nowhere in their droves, just to get themselves on the Spanish property ladder, nowadays buyers are rightly taking a longer-term view, and investing primarily for lifestyle reasons. And that means family holidays, so enough space for the kids and friends, being able to stroll out for a pizza, and taking a cab from the airport for those who don´t drive. So if you are looking to buy a 3 bed property in Spain , within walking distance of amenities and the beach, expect some serious competition. Related Posts Warning to Bargain Hunters – Don´t expect to view on a Sunday! Paradise Lost – ITV Gives the Spanish Property Market Another Kicking Why use a UK-based agent to sell your Spanish Property?
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Spanish Property Buyers All Want The Same Thing!
Anyone familiar with playing golf on the Costa del Sol will probably already be familiar with La Quinta Golf & Country Club . Located just 10 minutes drive from Puerto Banus, and nestled in the hills above San Pedro, La Quinta offers golfers 3 separate nine hole courses, meaning that there are 3 combinations of 18 hole rounds. There is also a Manuel Pinero Golf Academy and pro shop on site. In recent years, La Quinta has seen the welcome addition of the on-site 5 star Westin La Quinta Hotel , with its restaurants and bars, and the fabulous new spa, which added to the tennis facilities and kids´ club, nicely completes the offering of on-site amenities. Property at La Quinta has always been one of the most stable investments on the Costa del Sol . Owned by the dairy company, Pascual, La Quinta made a stand of shying away from multiple investors in the boom years, so the market at La Quinta hasn´t fallen victim to particularly deep troughs during the current recession. Having said that, there are some genuinely great deals available for anyone looking to buy a property at La Quinta at the moment, including two recent reformed 3 bed properties at La Quinta overlooking the lush fairways, priced at just €213.000 and €223.000 – outstanding value in such a great location. Related Posts Open Terraces – a British Obsession? Polaris world - A Golfing Paradise Come To Polaris World to Live Life King-Size
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Great Offers at La Quinta Golf & Country Club
Many prospective buyers of property in Spain think they can sit back and wait for prices to drop further still, fuelled by various media reports of a market in continuing crisis and property prices in freefall. These people are about to get a shock, although whether they choose to believe me is another matter. Here at YOUR KEY TO SPAIN, we work with a huge number of Spanish property agents. Due to our high internet rankings for terms such as Spanish Property Bargains and Distressed Properties in Spain , we are sent (literally) hundreds of supposed bargains and discounted properties in Spain each week from our network of agents throughout Spain. In fact, a large part of my job has recently been spent vetting these properties to ensure that we continue to showcase only the genuine bargains, rather than the properties that have simply been discounted to a reasonable level from an original price that was simply over-inflated.Let me tell you this. The market has shifted, even during the last 3 months. Take the well-known area of the Southern Costa Blanca as an example. At the end of the 1st quarter, we were selling 3 bed properties that had been valued by local banks at €135,000 at a sales price of just €85,000 – we had lots of desperate vendors and a glut of cheap properties on the market. I was receiving emails galore, with details of amazing discounts and sellers in distress. During the past few weeks, the supply of these genuine bargain-basement properties on the Costa Blanca has dried up. Sure, there are still one of two per week that crop up onto the market, but whereas we were receiving up to 10 amazing property offers per week, now we are lucky if we have time to post the details on our website before a buyer on the ground has snapped them up. Conversely, the amount of requests we now receive from agents with clients looking for bargain properties on the Costa Blanca has doubled within the last month. So it seems that in the popular (and relatively cheap) region of the Costa Blanca South at least, demand is now starting to outstrip supply in the bargain sector…..not that you´ll be reading that in the Daily Mail or seeing that reported on ITV anytime soon! There are still some good deals to be had, but these are mainly properties that are simply very competitively priced, rather than the out-and-out giveaways and forced sales that we have seen up to now. Perhaps it´s a combination of factors causing this change in market conditions: - the rise of sterling from near parity with the euro to a level of around 1.15 has forced some UK sellers in Spain to raise their prices, particularly if they are repatriating the proceeds to the UK. - the first ´green shoots´ of recovery within the general economy has persuaded many vendors to withdraw their properties from sale, or at least to hold out for a higher price – i.e. they no longer feel as ´desperate´ to sell up. - More buyers are entering the market for the same reasons (better exchange rate plus more confidence in the economy), thus upsetting the subtle balance of supply and demand. Agents and developers who have been selling these bargain properties in the last few months are all suggesting that we have simply seen a severe ´scraping´ of the bottom of the property barrel, meaning the properties of those vendors in most distress have been snapped up during a fairly aggressive, yet natural, process in this type of market. With the bottom stripped out of the market, it seems we are heading for a renewed period of calm, and prices that, while still attractive, are a little more reflective of market fundamentals. Related Posts Freezing Temperatures in Southern Spain Europeans Beating Brits to Spanish Property Bargains Costa Blanca Bargains
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Scraping Around for Spanish Property Bargains
I know that most of Europe is enjoying decent weather at the moment, but I can certainly assure people that Southern Spain is no different. In fact, here on the Costa del Sol , it´s been feeling like the middle of August with average daytime temperatures hitting 30 degrees. Yesterday, when I got into my car in a local car park outside my Marbella property the temperature gauge read 46 degrees – unpleasantly warm. There were plenty of nearby car owners standing outside their vehicles with the engines running and the air con going full blast in an attempt to cool their cars down. It was so warm that even the steering wheel was too hot to touch! Let´s hope we get a little respite soon, although I think with July upon us, there is little chance of that! Related Posts No related posts
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Heatwave in Spain
I stayed last week at the La Zenia Hotel , one of the Servi Group chain of hotels in Spain . I have to tell you about the deal I managed to get. Via the internet, I ended up paying just 62 euros per night for full board accommodation……that´s right, approx 53 quid with all meals and taxes included – I´m not even sure how they managed to do everything for that price, especially considering the view that I had from my balcony (shown in this article). The accommodation was clean and tidy, with satellite TV and fully fitted bathroom, plus a lovely balcony. Meals were good, with plenty of choice from the hot and cold buffet. There was even an ice-cream machine in the restaurant! Needless to say, I stuffed myself with all the nice (and wrong!) things in life – easy to do as my other half had decided to stay at home in our property on the Costa del So l. For anyone looking for a bargain holiday on the Costa Blanca , the La Zenia Hotel is certainly worth a look. Related Posts A Trip to a Holiday Hotel on The Costa Blanca Costa Blanca Bargains – A Better Investment than Cash?? Why do all Irish people swear?
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Cheap Hotel on the Costa Blanca
Most buyers of property in Spain have a habit of treating and viewing the entire Spanish property market in very general terms – at the moment, the widespread view is that the market is on its knees, prices are falling dramatically, and that vendors are desperate to sell. This is wishful thinking on the part of prospective buyers. Just as in any property market, there are areas that are still attracting high demand, just as there are undoubtedly areas with problems of over-supply and falling prices. Take the example of properties in Marbella and the prestigious Golden Mile area between Marbella Town and Puerto Banus . These areas have always proved popular, both as 2nd home destinations for Northern Europeans, and also, crucially, for Spanish buyers and the resident population. Of course, we must accept that the volume of buyers has dried up due to the harsh economic climate, but there is still demand for good quality, well priced and well located product in these areas. Although this demand for Marbella property has actually suffered as a result of the corruption scandals that surrounded its planning irregularities over the last few years, the subsequent response from the regional government, i.e. to withhold approval for the launch of all new development projects, has probably helped Marbella out of an almighty hole. During the last few years, there have hardly been any newly built properties, and therefore we haven´t seen a surplus of stock becoming available to drag the market down. What we are now witnessing is a smaller number of potential buyers, but all of whom are interested in purchasing a fairly limited amount of stock that´s available within well-located areas. We are seeing buyers ´chasing´ particular properties, knowing that there is a limited amount of similarly located stock available. This provides a market within a market, and is difficult for the ordinary overseas buyer to comprehend. Over the last few weeks, we have seen several offers made by prospective purchasers in Marbella and on the Golden Mile, and all have been refused. Sellers in these areas are confident that they have the best-located properties and that there is a paucity of similar stock, and can therefore ride out the current storm in pole position. Related Posts Property Sales Picking Up On The Costa del Sol Off-plan Property in Spain – a dead market? Where are all the Costa del Sol properties for sale?
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Marbella Property - a market within a market
