Spanish Property Investment Advice

Brought to you each week by our property expert, Iain Maitland.

Posted on 18 August 2006

Keep an Eye on Demand for Malaga Property

Those of you who follow population trends should be focusing on the province of Malaga over the next 10 years! Stats buried deep in a new report on infrastructure by the regional environment department delegate, Ignacio Trillo, show that the population is expected to double by the year 2017. From the infrastructure viewpoint, this means that two new reservoirs and three new water treatment plants will be needed to service this level of population. For property investors looking at demand and supply, demand is only going to go one way – and that’s up!

Overseas Property TV had a soft launch on Monday on Sky and goes live on 1 September on channel 287. It looks interesting and is said to showcase lots of markets and will have loads of tips and tactics and advice from a panel of experts. What worries me is that this channel will showcase the company’s full range of real estate across the world, including in Spain. I worked for glossy magazines for years and it is very hard to give honest and independent advice when the advertisers are ultimately paying the editorial wages. I do wonder, old cynic that I am, whether the hotspots tipped will just happen to be the exact same places where the company is selling developments. Stranger coincidences have happened.

The Property Investor Show at Excel in London Docklands runs from Friday 22 to Sunday 24 September 2006. It will feature 300 exhibitors, property from the UK and around the world and 100+ seminars. You can get free tickets now at their website which is at www.propertyinvestor.co.uk Of course, the exhibitors are there to sell to you stuff and the seminars are much the same, but it is worth going along for a day. I will recommend some seminars shortly once I have mulled over the schedule.

Stats coming out of Spain suggest that property prices are levelling out. Pundits are predicted a modest increase in property prices of 9 per cent for 2006. That’s slower than in previous years, but it is hardly a levelling out. Where prices are levelling is in the 500,000 to 600,000 euros bracket. It is well worth bargaining hard here. I have yet to see stats which show me that the prices of lower-priced homes are levelling out. I think that will only take place if the economy falters and interest rates rise sharply, Neither of those will happen!

All for now

Iain Maitland

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