Corruption scandals, illegal building, demolition threats, land grabs...
The Spanish property market has had its fair share of headlines recently...
Opening Military Routes to boost market
The Spanish government is considering allowing commercial airlines to use military routes...
While many areas of Spain are currently experiencing a major slowdown...
Spanish news, aggregated from the best available sources in English.
![]() Telegraph.co.uk | Britons die after contracting Legionnaires' disease in Spain BBC News Three British men have died and three more people are in hospital after contracting Legionnaires' disease while on holiday in Spain. The pensioners died after staying at the Diamante Beach Hotel in Calpe, Costa Blanca, Saga Holidays said. Two Brits die after contracting Legionnaires disease in Spain Three British pensioners die after Legionnaires' Disease outbreak 'at Spanish ... Three die of Legionnaire's disease in Spain |
Can Josh be the Wizard in Oz? This Is Wiltshire By Steve Butt » WRAG Barn's Josh Loughrey is heading Down Under after coming back from the Costa Ballena Quadrangular Tournament empty-handed. Representing England A at the prestigious Spanish event, Loughrey notched a win and a draw in his three ... |
Benidorm Now! iPhone and Android App is the Number 1 In Your Pocket Travel Guide Response Source (press release) Mel Castle an ex-pat Brit living near Benidorm on Spain's Costa Blanca has designed a smartphone and tablet application for tourists and everyone else interested in Benidorm. Benidorm Now! Is a new App for iPhone, iPad, iTouch and all Android phones ... |
Andalucia: Sunny Southern Spain Moneylife Personal Finance site and magazine Sadly, this extraordinarily diverse region of southern Spain is often ignored by travellers who visit the beaches and resorts along the sunny Mediterranean coast—the well-known Costa del Sol—or limit themselves to Madrid and Barcelona. |
EURO GOVT-Spain under pressure after auction; Greece eyed Reuters * Spanish yield rise signals rally may be slowing * France finds firm demand at 8 bln euro bond sale * Greek talks dominate market backdrop By Ana Nicolaci da Costa and Kirsten Donovan LONDON, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Spain's yields rose on Thursday after the ... |
![]() A Place in the Sun | Waiting lists for Spanish properties A Place in the Sun Property in Spain is proving so popular with overseas buyers that many developments are having to instate waiting lists in order to allocate apartments. At the bank-owned Vera Playa Sol development in Costa Almeria – dubbed Spain's “Best key-ready buy” ... |
![]() Daily Mail | Spain and Sri Lanka cheapest breaks The Press Association A basket of typical holiday items, including drinks and suntan lotion, was less than £28 in Sri Lanka and just under £38 on Spain's Costa del Sol, the survey by Post Office Travel Money found. The same eight items, including a three-course evening meal ... Costa lot less! Holidays in Spain on the rise as prices at resorts drop by 40% Spain cheaper for holiday spending than five years ago Spain set to become 2012 holiday hotspot |
![]() Tennis World - the place for Tennis News and Tennis Tournament | ATP - Nadal denies tax evasion Tennis World - the place for Tennis News and Tennis Tournament ... Nadal's agent, Carlos Costa, said in a statement. "Since the start of his career Rafa has always wanted to maintain his residence in Spain and that's the way it has been, reaffirming his commitment as a Spaniard on, as well as off, the court. |
European Tour announces return of Open de Andalucía at Aloha Golf Club in Spain bettor.com (blog) European Tour season is warming up as the tour coordinating committee announced on Tuesday, January 31 that he 2012 Open de Andalucía will be returning to Aloha Golf Club on Spain's Costa del Sol after a lapse of three years. Spain has been one of the ... |
Audi S8 gets new technology for 2012 Toronto Star Costa Mouzouris Special to the Star ELCIEGO, SPAIN—During a tour of a wine cellar at of one of Spain's oldest wineries, I still couldn't get my head around something I'd learned earlier in the day: The new Audi S8 uses speakers as engine mounts. |
How Much Should I Pay for Spanish Property? |
| Posted by Administrator (admin) on Jul 23 2008 |
| News >> All News |
Question: “I was in Denia this week to see what I can afford to buy in the North Costa Blanca, from Denia south to Albir and I found that property prices have fallen but not enough. Can you give me your opinion as to whether house prices will fall more or have they bottomed?”
Answer: As you can see from our analysis of asking prices for property in Denia, prices still seem to be increasing slightly.
If you look at a breakdown of asking prices by different sizes of property, you can also see that the increase is pretty uniform in all sizes of property.
However, I don’t believe that houses are being sold at these prices – not in any significant quantity, anyway.
Most sellers aren’t reducing their asking prices because they aren’t in any real hurry to sell. They’re happy to wait and see and are perfectly prepared to hang on to their property until the market bounces back. If, in the meantime, someone makes them a decent offer, they’ll consider it. They’re more fishing than selling. This is true throughout Spain, not just in Denia.
The prices of many new-build properties are reducing, although, not all developers are advertising their discounted prices. In these cases, the best course of action is to demonstrate to the developer that you’re a serious buyers and negotiate hard. You should definitely be prepared to walk away if the developer can’t get close to your target price.
For resale properties, you’re definitely looking for a motivated seller – someone on a timeline to sell, for whatever reason. The risk of paying too-higher-price at the moment is simply that. In time, the Spanish property market will bounce back and property prices will genuinely increase and any excess you paid for a property will be absorbed. The problem comes when circumstances change unexpectedly and you don’t have the luxury of choosing the timing of the sale of the property.
What price is the right price to pay? Even though the asking prices on Kyero.com haven’t decreased much, you can still use them as a benchmark. For example, last year in Denia, the average three-bed house was being advertised at between €303K and €310K. Assuming these prices were already inflated by 10% to provide some haggling space, these properties were probably actually selling for between €273K and €280K.
Now, factor in a 20-30% discount and you’ll be looking for 3 bed properties for sale in Denia between €191K and €224K.
Now, just because properties are listed in this search, doesn’t make them a bargain. In most towns, there are good developments and areas and bad ones. This is where your own detailed research must take-over so that you can compile a reliable first-hand opinion of what prices should be in each area. There’s no real way of short-cutting this process – other than to take the risk of paying over the odds.
Finally, don’t let the temptation of a bargain cause you to shortcut your common-sense. Always use an independent solicitor and get an independent structural survey completed. Even with a new-build property, a survey makes sense because a builders guarantee is worthless if they’re no longer in business to make good on their promises.
Industry ‘experts’ believe that house prices will continue to be suppressed in Spain for a while yet. Some predict a turn-around in 2009, others say it won’t be until 2011. Either way, I think it’s safe to conclude that prices still have some way to move yet. However, this won’t dramatically change the need to continue looking for motivated sellers and developers.
Martin Dell, Kyero.com
Last changed: Jul 24 2008 at 11:02 AM
Back