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Eye on Spain Poll of the Week

Every week we ask you to vote and comment on a popular subject. The following week we publish the results for you to see what the general consensus is and what other people say about it. Have your say and vote in this week's poll.

Poll of the Week: Do you believe Spain still offers a low cost of living?
Monday, March 29, 2010

THIS POLL IS NOW CLOSED.  VIEW THE RESULTS OF THIS POLL.



Like 0        Published at 8:49 PM   Comments (4)


Poll Results: Has the Spanish property market reached rock bottom yet?
Monday, March 29, 2010

In last week's poll we asked:

Has the Spanish property market reached rock bottom yet?

320 responses were received and the verdict is....

Spanish property market

Therefore, an overwhelming majority of respondents believe that we haven't yet seen the worst of the Spanish property market.

Below is a selection of the comments received by the respondents:

A see a short upward "blip" in Spring and early Summer, then a serious retreat..throughout Europe when the real truth about the banking and the printing of all those billions of $'s and Euros shows it's ugly head.

There are so many empty developments and unfinished developments on the Costa del Sol that it is unrealistic to think that the property market has in any sense reached bottom. Until the empty properties are cleared, property values will continue to fall.

In my opinion Spanish properties have been over-priced for years now and the pride of the Spanish people stops them from reducing their prices. They are prepared to sit it out and wait for the Market to improve.

There are many properties now appearing as a result of the Banks insisting that developers sell much lower as the Banks are looking for their monies back.

Added to everything the monetary problems and job worries in many European Countries have resulted in a dearth of buyers and unless property prices are slashed drastically they will not attract buyers and therefore they will not sell. Many potential buyers have enough problems of their own in just keeping their heads above water where they currently live.

Certainly in Catolonia prices have not dropped in the last 8 months or so, even to the point that some very small increses are being seen as the market is begining to move, albeit the lower end. Given another 4 years market prices will be at the pre crisis levels again but WITHOUT the rampant inflation of 18% per year!

There is no basis for believing that the bottom as been reached, because all around we see empty properties, closed down businesses, unfinished building sites, and the bulk of European countries close to or about to go into a second level of recession. While unemployment remains at the present levels and an uncertain employment future there continues to be fear of coming back into the property market. Lack of demand and oversupply equals lower prices.

Friends have just come back from 4000 mile trip around southern spain and were shocked at all empty properties they reckoned Spain was almost a third world country and couldnt wait to get back to france their opinion not mine

There are still far too many properties for sale. The Banks have a massive inventory, and very few takers. It will be two years before the market stabilises, and even then it will be a long slow road to recovery.

I feel there is still a little way to go with the property 'crash' for the majority of properties here in Andalucia. However, on a positive note, the rate of decline is reducing each quarter and good properties will settle first.

As regards new build, many look unsaleable being in some of the not so good locations, and hardly big enough for a small dog to live in.

In the long run (how long?) Spain will recover, including Andalucia. Where else and you be sitting on your motor cruiser four hours after leaving central London?

With headlines like this appearing in the British Press, would any sane minded brit buy into this nightmare

Hundreds of furious expats have staged a march in Malaga today over Spanish government plans to demolish illegally built holiday homes in Andalucia.

The protest group took part in a rally in the southern city carrying placards in Spanish and English which read ‘we’ve done nothing wrong’ and ‘citizens betrayed’.

Demolition orders have been served on a score of houses across southern Andalucia and the regional authority passed a law yesterday which means illegal properties can be bulldozed with just one month’s notice.

I believe they will be flat for a while, and will only slowly pick up again, perhaps starting in two years' time

Here on the Costa Blanca, prices have fallen on many properties to a level which is now attracting Spanish buyers. There are still lots of properties however where the prices are too high and owners will need to reduce the price dramatically to secure a sale.

I think the property market is still under crisis and I don't think the property market in Spain will get better until more holidaymakers visit Spain. I don't know whose responsible for flight prices but they really need to sort this out - it can cost between £300 & £450 for a return ticket to Menorca in July for 1 person! Plus the Euro exchange rate is awful to the pound!

Would love to think the worst is over as we own a property ourselves. We have met too many people, particularly British people who are sadly in dire straits, some desparate to sell at any price. Could be another couple of years. Sorry, just hope I am wrong

I think mostly they have reached the bottom. We deal in resales only and find that many vendors are restricted by the finance they have in place on the property so they can only go so low. Having said that, we´re lucky enough to be in an area where things are still selling if somewhat slower than before.

Not even close. Try selling you property at the moment and see what happens. Millions of properties on sale and no buyers.

Because there is still building & development work going on! Surely all new building work should now be stopped until such time as everything else is completed and sold?!

Hi Guys, well! as long as the 'feel good' factor is missing from the european economies, the disposable income will stay firmly locked up with any prospective buyer. Its only when people are 'secure' will theystart looking for their 'place in the sun' . Thats still a long way off. So, maybe there is more grief to come. BUT!!! it will end, and we will see the revival of the Spanish Property Industry.

At the moment there are way to many properties for sale with few buyers on the market. Way too many uncertainties with exchange rates, banks, and the political climate, best option rent for a while.

Many thousands of properties are still unsold, unfinished and plots left with only the foundations in place, it will take at least a couple of years before the market starts to improve.

I voted that prices will continue to fall and I think that will be the case until the contraction of the Spanish economy can be turned around.

That really is a European issue because they have to do something about the sovereign debts of the Club Med. countries, of which the Spanish economy is the largest by far.

The Greek thing is just a dress rehearsal of course, the real show starts in a few months and could dag on for a couple of years.

Another 3-4 years of overshoot to the downside.

It's all about confidence and that is definately starting to return. If the propoerty is in the right location it will always be a good investment, the only difference will be the sppeed of the capital growth.

My reason for this is they are still building new properties and selling it high prices to new buyers who have no experience in buying properties. The repossesed properties with the Bank are at silly prices, may be they can sit with the bad debs for a long time. Private sellers want to sell at high prices and the asking price is so high that buyers are no willing to offer.

There are still some overpriced properties on offer which will never sell , unless reduced further.

Decent properties in good positions are already starting to sell steadily, but mainly to Spanish buyers, expat buyers are still 'Thin on the Ground'....

The internet agents are not in the real World! Prices quoted are way above the actual price, when reality comes home to roost, I reckon prices can come down 50% or more.

Lots of bargains to be had

l agree with Ian, will wait till 2011 before parting with any Euros, 2010 will be a difficult year in Europe , what with Greece having to be baled out, Germany refusing to help, could spell the end of the EURO, THEN WATCH REAL ESTATE PRICE'S FALL.

In my opinion, we have not reached the worst of it yet. Several policy concerns will overlap with job issues...like the weakness of the euro compared to the dollar. Who knows what powers will influence that? Another factor has to do with the situation in the middle east. What happens now in any part of the world will impact the property situation..I predict nothing will improve for several years....temporary pluses but more minuses.

Yes but people are still selling at up to 40% off in Costa Blanca South. Spain is not as good a place to stay as 7/10 years ago. cost of living in Spain is catching up on UK. The Spanish people are not as friendly as they blame us for their economic downturn.

Why I do not know as they built all the houses and put all their eggs in one basket not us.

I think Spain will be hit by a double whammy. Because so many Brits are involved in the property market that with a hung or weak government later in the year in the U.K and a weak pound that after a slight improvment this spring I fear at least another 18 months of downward prices. I do not expect it to be as bad as the last 18 months though. After this I would expect either stabilaty or a very slight increase for the next 5 years.

Many Brits are now very cautious of making a purchase espesially in Spain as they do not trust the Spanish government after the recent corruption and land grabs.This will have to be addressed to bring confidence back to the market.

I for one will not be buying in Spain for a while yet.

Spanish builders/developers were too greedy and should/are now paying for their greed. Our builder/developer is not interested in carrying out any repair work, even though it is clearly bad workmanship.

You only live once its always the right time to buy

I think that prices went far too high, much faster trhan anywhere else in the world, instead of matching demand ,the property speculators flooded the market with new builds. It will take many years to dispose of the millions of properties standing empty or half built therefore a long way to the bottom yet.

Prices will continue to fall until sellers price their properties realistically re todays market

The Spanish banks have been told by the Bank of Spain to devalue their property stock by 20%, hence this will affect re-sale prices in throughout the market for a year or two.

When the banks are forced to start releasing properties to sell, then the prices will come down further.

The market will carry on responding to economic pressure for at least a year, then you have to wait for the confidence factor to return and then you my see some changes for the good.

I still think they will still come down because spain is so saturated with empty propertys, and repossesion are still happening

There is still too much to go wrong, legal wise.

Peak oil is yet to hit.

Hold onto your hats !

Market prices are governed by supply and demand curves. Whilst the is over supply there is plenty of choice for prospective purchasers. To sell, a vendor must set a price to attract demand. This can only indicate much further for prices to fall. With the £ expected reach parity with the euro, or even lower over the next 18 months, this will scupper demand from UK buyers. Spain is no longer a cheap place to holiday or live and there are no signs whatsoever in the foreseeable future of this changing. So... if you are thinking of selling, price sensibly and do it asap or I believe it will get worse.

Due to high unemployment and massive overbuild the market has a way to go it should stabalise then slowly grow but not to silly levels again

I think it will take a long time for the property market to recover. Prices are still too high. These are only figures that were put on properties. There is very little trust left in corrupt spain. Too many people have been ruined. There is nobody to be trusted in Spain where property is concerned and that includes estate agents and lawyers along with developers and the government.A lot of people are going elsewhere. It is a shame this has happened and they turned a blind eye and all those gangsters are still walking the streets

Supply exceeds demand

Their are too many people that have a morgage both in Spain & the UK & with prices rising the Euro going down against the Pound they are finding it hard to cover both properties.

There is stil a lot of people throwing the keys into the banks who then have to dispose of the property at a reduced price or if they sell it direct they have to reduce the price to make it intresting.

The Banks are sitting on their REPO's.

We are sitting on the fence at the moment, maybe pick somthing up if the price is right or just sit on the cash.

The banks have a lot influence with property prices they control the strings by selling property below market prices to spanish and spain being in as bad a reccession as the uk

I can see no end in sight to the supply-demand problem, quite frankly. We have massive over-supply of empty properties which are preventing any prospect of a rebound in rental or resale values. I wouldn't expect to see things bottom out for another 2 years minimum, although naturally there will be seasonal fluctuations that will obscure this to some extent. The major contributory factor to this slump is the fact that the Euro has made Spain terribly uncompetitive and it can no longer escape by devaluation, unlike in the past. That is the real killer.

There are people who for there own personal reasons will talk the market up, but thats not the real world, the reality is the market is still depressed and will remain so for who knows how long,one would need a crystal ball and there are none, the bankers themselves cant tell when it will be ok again so all should sit tight and keep in touch with reality.

More property for sale than buyers about 7 to 1

Unless the exchange rate recovers prices will continue to fall, people still want to buy in Spain but are playing the waiting game.

I think with the announcement of A Theme Park being built in the Murcia region it can only be good news and help the economic situation overall

The problems with the Euro itself plus the value of the shaky pound, make me think, all is not over yet, the Spanish property market has a way to go before it bottoms

We still have a long way to go some houses that are for sale will take up to Ten years to sell at the price you paid for them. This is because of many years of over development. If you want to sell your house reasonably quickly it will have to sell for a third of the price that you paid for it. There is one thing in your favor its the strength of the euro. The downside of this is that the Brits wont be actively buying. Lots of Bargains out there . Mike

For english buyers the combination of hard to get mortgages, the low euro /£ exchange rate and the uncertainty around jobs etc together with the glut of properties and the higher costs of living in Spain makes it difficult to see how prices have bottomed out.

The costs of property as well as day to day living seem high compared to other countries such as France and Italy or the non euro zones. I see a lot of properties being advertised at high selling prices which dont seem to be moving but still 'most owners aren;t reducing prices. I wonder whether people in Spain actually realise how unattractive a proposition it is at the moment.

Prices will have stopped falling for properties in the still sort after locations, but for the bulk of properties prices have still not reach rock bottom. How can prices be at rock bottom when there is still a glut of unsold properties.

A long way to go yet I think. The exchange rate is poor and the cost of living in Spain is much higher now than it was. I believe there are many thousands of empty builds to be sold still. Not convinced recovery is on its way in the forseable future.

I think it probably has gone as low as it can, however i do think that spain must stop any more building as the place is already over full of houses.where we are in torrevieja it could rival the french riviera .it has all the attributes but poor direction.

Some new properties cant be sold any lower as there mortgages dont allow for any further reductions.

Spanish Mkt will follow Uk housing trend and prices. Thus we will sadly see Brits cease to buy in Spain as unemployment for those in council and Gov jobs will increase greatly and those here still feeling the pinch re exchange rate. So more downward trend is sadly my prediction.

Big over-supply but low demand, poor exchange rate and because of all the rip-offs, corruption and scandal associated with the Spanish property industry over the past decade people will be very wary about buying in Spain in the future.

We check the estate agents prices circa to us and every week we find a 'cheaper' property than the previous week.

As we are hoping to purchase a property in Spain next year, hopefully the prices will drop further.

An apartment similar to mine in Mojacar has just sold very quickly for about 75% of it's peak value about 3 years ago. I think that prices for good properties in prime locations have probably levelled off but there is still some way to fall for the rest.

Property markets are driven upwards by small supply and big demand. In Spain we have big supply and small demand and it will take a long time for the situation to right itself. I think prices have a fair way to fall yet and in order to stimulate the market the government needs to abolish or at least reduce the high costs of purchasing that add at least 10% to the price. They could also reduce IVA on residential building works (reforms etc.) in order to stimulate the construction industry and make improvements more affordable.

Generally yes, but with some regional variation and with the excess of product for sale, substandard property may fall further but high quality will get no worse.

In Spain as in UK the idea of an "average" or "median" property price (and there IS a big difference) for property is misleading. All one can say is that there is a price for everything, and the price is what the buyer will pay. Sellers (and their agents) can set any price they like, but if they actually need a sale (rather than want one) they have to find a buyer prepared to part with his cash. I have seen properties advertised for sale with agents in Spain for 3 and more years and are now being reduced by up to 30% and still will not sell. Properties in good condition in sought after locations and with all legal papers in place will always sell at the right price.

I think a few prices will drop on those desperate to sell. With the job situation still bad here in Spain quite a few will find it difficult to stay. That means though that folk should now buy here as bargains are to be had. How could anyone still prefer to live in uk when the weather and lifestyle out here has so much more to offer. 100k buys a palace here, you cant get a run down shack for that over there!!

There's lots of Governmental spin to try to persuade people that the worst is over but this in my view is a tactical ploy to lure buyers back into the market.

I believe that property prices will continue to fall albeit slowly for at least two years.

Prices may fall i think for 2/3 years , many people who bought on interest only for 2 to 5 years and whose deals are ending may struggle to pay the mortgage , rental values are falling , weak euro . the banks need to do more to help owners , it is very costly to re negotiate a mortgage in spain , re mortgage is difficult due to falling values. spain like most of europe will be a buyers market for many years with with falling or stagnate property prices, just pray interest rates stay low .

We have seen signs of slight movement in our area and some continued building work,though not on a huge scale.We have a property on the Costa Blanca.

If 60% of the sales are from the UK then it will be another nine years B4 the UK improves so with a bit of luck a further 3 years for spain. then we should see improvement. Am I being a little too optimistic ?

We are seeing an increase in enquiries and there are buyers about but they are looking for a good deal and are definitely shopping around to get the best deal they can.

I would hope that government support for the home owners would start to have an effect on the housing market tis year

Until supply ceases to outstrip demand, then property prices will continue to struggle. While new build may have dried up, there is still a large amount of unsold stock on the market. Where are new buyers going to come from in the current economic climate in the EU?

Far too many properties available - both built and part built - to have much hope that the market has bottomed out. Also the Spanish insistence on threatening to bulldoze houses they allowed to be built and sold but now claim are illegal will do nothing to bring in a flood of new buyers.

British house prices are now on the up but i consider the spanish market not yet to be at rock bottom, the reason being that due to the manic building during the past 10 years and the bad publicity regarding corrupt mayors, councils and even solicitors this has left Spain with a very bad reputation. People will think twice before buying in Spain. It will recover but it could be 2 to 3 years before we see some real improvement. The Spanish need to get their corruption sorted as well.

Quantatative Easing in all major western economies has prevented a total collapse.

However now the banks have shot all their bullets the prices will resume. Best that can be hoped for is stagflation is where prices stay static, but drop in real terms versus inflation.

The prices quoted for properties by estate agents and banks will not fall, but what level of offer they will take will fall as the real price sinks in

Until the banks 'clear the backlog' of repossessions at more reasonable prices I dont think the way is clear for prices to rise

The badly managed economic policys in the Uk will continue to adversly impact real estate prices in Spain. Hopefully the upcoming general election will result in new government and thus pave the way for improved trust and beleif in the future with subsequent higher willingness/possibility for investments, i.e. the U.K. to adapt more of the superior "Scandinavian Mode".

There are still too many negative factors. Spain's own ecomomy is in dire shape and the countries from which buyers used to come such as GB, Ireland and the Netherlands also have economic problems. There is an excess of supply over demand, little mortgage money, and for UK buyers, the stregnth of the Euro all point to further downturns in prices. Present asking prices are still too optimistic and I expect prices to fall another 25%. I wish it were not so and still love Spain as a place to live but you cannot get away from the economic reality.

Where we live in Totana, Murcia, prices have dropped considerably and there does not appear to be any interest from UK Buyers now. Developers seem to be targeting the Belgians and the Russians.

The collapse of Polaris World has certainly not helped.

Perhaps in coastal areas there may still be a continued drop in prices but inland property prices have certainly reached their lowest level

We are waiting for banks to offload properties. Many can't be offloaded in the Marbella area because licences of first occupation have not been issued yet, and that's because of the town hall scandals. The government should have dropped taxes not raised the tax on property purchases - they aren't helping the situation, trying to fleece the foreign owners in my opinion.

Our apartment in the Selwo area has been up for sale for over 2 years and we have not received one enquiry despite the fact we would be prepared to consider any reasonable offer. I think the whole market has stagnated and will take several more years to recover.

Because the banks have got a lot of property, on their sites for sale, and one can bargain on a price, not until most of these have gone [sold] will the market level out, lets hope that it will also take down some of the less honest Estate Agents, still about, one here in Tenerife is advertising my property, that i have not put up for sale !!!
Anthony.



Like 0        Published at 8:28 PM   Comments (10)


Poll of the Week: Has the Spanish property market reached rock bottom yet?
Tuesday, March 23, 2010

THIS POLL IS NOW CLOSED.  VIEW THE RESULTS OF THIS POLL.



Like 0        Published at 12:17 PM   Comments (9)


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