25th January 2010

A press article entitled “British ready to buy again in Spain – but legally” as the front page lead article in ‘The Leader’ newspaper dated 25th January 2010 made interesting reading: It read "Many of the people visiting International Property Shows in the UK last year were still looking to move abroad, specifically to Spain, indicates that while the financial downturn has made a difference, there are signs that things are beginning to happen and that the green shoots of recovery are starting to make an appearance. Spain’s competitors were the USA, Australia and New Zealand, but the survey results from these shows are especially good news for Spain, which is confirmed to be the favourite destination of potential property buyers still, with over 60 per cent of visitors indicating an interest in Spain. Surveys of the public attending the shows indicate that many buyers have been waiting for the right moment, and are now thinking about making a move, as the thinking is that house prices are unlikely to drop any further. The reasons for choosing Spain were, as one would expect, the climate, the friendly people, and previous holidays in certain areas in the past. However what can they expect when they get here? We hear about Ex-Pats duped into buying illegal properties or falling foul of a law. The officials responsible for finding a solution to these cases insist that the problems had arisen because speculative interests of professional defrauders had attracted foreign investors and property buyers by offering them the chance of building on non-building land without explaining exactly what problems could arise”.

Our comment: A good and very welcomed press article. We too are seeing the green shoots of recovery. We also acknowledge that some property owners in the past have had terrible problems, but had they used us they would never have experienced those problems in the first place because we act 100 per cent to the letter of, and to the spirit of the law, and we insist that our clients use an independent Solicitor. If nothing else our business ethics allow us, and our clients, to sleep at night (we even invite every client into our homes – all of our clients know where we live and meet our families). We are astonished when we hear about apparently intelligent people who bought a property “from a man in a bar” and those who refused to use a Solicitor when they bought their property. We have ourselves met people who are highly regarded professions yet they have taken a gamble in the past, some to save just a few thousand Euros by not using a Solicitor, whilst others have gambled many hundreds of thousands of Euros on buying not one, but numerous ‘cheap’ properties on what they absolutely knew was illegal land, hoping that eventually the builder would retrospectively be granted planning consent and building licences and then they, the buyer, “would make a killing” (un-quote). Why would the builder, some of whom were orange tree growers the week before they became property developers, bother battling with the lengthy bureaucracy over many years in the Town Hall after amassing hundreds of thousands of Euros, maybe even millions of Euros from their buyers? Is it really a total surprise when the builder (aka the orange tree farmer) disappears? Yet in the press it is rarely the buyer (often British) even partly at fault but often the Spanish builder/developer totally at fault. We remain steadfast in our advice, always use a reputable estate agent, always listen to their advice, a good estate agent will never ‘sell’ to you (if they are good they’ll have no need to), always use a Solicitor and never leave your brain at home. Buy a bargain, yes of course, but buy a fully legal bargain - if it sounds too good to be true then it is too good to be true - there are good reasons why reputable estate agents do not market some properties.

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21st January 2010

1. Pound up against the Euro! Pound sterling, as at today’s official Moneycorp rate, buys 1.1444 Euros, so this year has begun far better than last year ended.
2. Some builders and developers downsize. Many of the large and dominate builders and developers drastically scaled back their sales operations, their sale forces and even their discount structures in 2009 and the ‘headline discounts’ of 28% off brand new Polaris World properties for example are no longer available.
3. Other builders and developers become more focussed. Some more specialist, smaller yet some might say more prestigious builders and developers have really focussed their sales activities and have created strategic alliances with a few select estate agents to sell their properties at amazing discounts, never seen before low prices for such high quality properties. At spanish home 4u we are part of that select worldwide network. Every other estate agent in the world might have for sale some of what we have for sale, but only another 6 in the world might have everything that we have for sale!
4. Banks (almost) become Estate Agents! The market is evolving, and by default the banks have become the largest estate agents. The banks were forced to take drastic action and repossess thousands of properties last year, many brand new and never lived in as owners simply handed their keys into the banks, leaving the bank, a purely financial institution, with having to ‘overnight’ become an estate agent, not a role they cherished and indeed one that they are not remotely good at (and that is being polite!) The banks could not themselves evolve into estate agents, and do not wish to, so the stock of properties had lain dormant for a few months. Until now. Many of the banks have formed strategic alliances with spanish home 4u for us to move their portfolio of properties on for them. Many properties represent fantastic value for money and are available at prices never before seen for such properties. 
5. New projects announced and more properties are to be built! Yes, some builders and developers have the financial backing, the vision and the staying power to invest in their projects now, whilst prices are low, to build and to sell later when they predict that the market will recover. Maybe those with the vision, courage and financial might will be the eventual winners when the market recovers as it will be these who will have the stock ready and waiting whilst the other builders and developers try to ‘gear up’ their activities once again.
6. Far fewer ‘high street’ estate agents. Walk down almost any High Street here and the estate agents offices are likely to be closed, especially so those with high overheads.
7. Is it the day of the ‘Specialist’ estate agent once again? The market has evolved. Builders and developers no longer give agency contracts to any estate agent, they probe and investigate, they build long term relationships and they proactively select which estate agents to work with. The banks have followed suit. And ‘the locals’ know which estate agent has the best reputation locally. The day of the ‘local’ estate agent, small enough to care and deliver that special service, yet large enough to get the best deal – always – has returned?

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28th April 2009

Someone has turned the taps on again! In the midst of the worse recession in the UK for what, 40 years, property buyers are turning up here in ever increasing numbers. Just last week we had 3 couples with us, albeit some on reconnaissance missions, but with a combined spend of €2.61m! But it is not just the potential buyers that are very active again. On the 16th April Polaris World (the largest and best known property developer in the whole of the south east of Spain) announced that they had started work on their ‘Platinum Series’ beachfront villas at the very tip of the magnificent La Manga strip. And these are not cheap – prices start at well over €1m - and they don't start building until they have sold them, or most of them anyway. Finally came the news in The Costa Calida Informer dated 24th April “Houses are selling in Murcia” (yes, I knew that already!), but the figures make interesting reading. According to the National Institute of Statistics the region of Murcia is in second place in the whole of Spain for the number of homes that have been sold. For every 100,000 residents in the region 145 homes were sold, second only to the La Rioja region with 154 per 100,000. During the last month where records were available (February – a very quiet time of the year as well) 34,669 homes were sold in the region of Murcia. This region is a ‘Property Hot Spot’ and as we keep saying prices will never be this low again, and with some developers very willing to help buyers not in the Euro zone by fixing the £ to € rate at 1.36 and at 1.45 (!) buying conditions are, once again, excellent. Why not contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it for an informal, and no obligation discussion?

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28th February 2009

The market seems to be moving in different directions at the moment! 'Reasales’ (previously owned properties) are available at fantastically reduced prices; what might have been on the market for €150,000 12 months ago is now available for €99,000, a sure sign that the global credit crunch is affecting northern Europeans across the board as they try to sell assets (2nd homes abroad) to gain liquidity (cash) or to pay off mortgages. In complete contrast to this are the ‘Off Plan’ and ‘Key Ready’ developments where some builders/developers have increased their prices by 10% - for these it seems they feel that the market has bottomed out and is on the way up again. In the midst of all of this the devalued Pound Sterling against the Euro does not help UK buyers, so 2 builders/developers have recently announced innovative solutions. The first is Peraleja Golf Resort who are at the top end of the market. They now offer UK buyers the ability to pay some of the price in Pounds Sterling, effectively offering a FIXED conversion rate from Pounds to the Euro at 1.36. The second is at Hacienda Taray at the middle/lower end of the market offering a FIXED conversion rate from Pounds to Euros at 1.45, and for buyers already in the Euro zone a straight 25% discount. Finally Polaris World continues to offer a 28% discount for quick completions on ‘distressed sales’ (where a previous buyer paid a large deposit but could not complete). Overall NOW is the time to buy. Will prices ever be this low again? No-one we know in the housing market here thinks so.

25th October 2008

What a week! This week we have had 3 Inspection Trips! This is the first time this year that this has happened and the combined spend is over €1.5 million! Normally at this stage in the year activity goes down, not up!

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19th September 2008

It seems as though activity levels generally are increasing and not just with us but across the board. We ourselves are seeing many more vehicles from other Estate Agents on the road and more Estate Agents from other companies with clients in builders/developers offices looking at properties. The general feel is that things are improving and sales are increasing throughout this part of Spain. As a real indicator of the market in this region the first builder/developer has put their prices UP! This is the first price increase in the region. Having said that the most prolific builder/developer Polaris World have continued to sell their book of ‘distressed sales’ properties at a discount (properties where a previous buyer had paid a large deposit but the buyer has not been able to complete placing the buyer in default of contract so Polaris sell the property again at a discount for a quick sale). All ‘distressed sales’ at La Torre have been sold (they sold out within days as people recognised the bargains available) and the stock of ‘distressed sales’ at El Valle is selling very very quickly, there now being a waiting list for certain villas! Elsewhere the other builders/developers are holding their prices. So to summarise the industry seems to be on the up and things are improving.

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3rd June 2008

The UK press seems preoccupied with scare stories about the housing market, both in the UK and in Spain, so this page is designed to tell you ‘like it is’ here in Spain, ‘on the ground’ so to speak.

What one reads in the UK press and what it is really like here in Spain is somewhat different. There is no doubt that the general property market here in Spain is more difficult than it has been for some years, but the different Spanish regions and the differing property sectors are each experiencing different market conditions.

Brand new properties
To generalise in many areas there is some over-supply, particularly of brand new (‘Off-Plan’ and ‘Key-Ready’) properties which is dampening prices – this is bad news for the seller and good news for you the buyer of course. Worst hit are the developers and builders themselves, as some of them have too many properties built and ready to sell, and with the lowest Pound to the Euro rate for a long time the usual UK buyers are finding it less easy to find the money to buy, as in Pounds Sterling terms their effective price has gone up.

Mindful of this, and with businesses to run, many builders and developers are being flexible, but despite what you may read in the UK press most are not lowering their prices. What they are doing is they are not raising their prices as often as they used to in the past (which used to be more than twice a year), so whilst prices may be static, most builders and developers are not lowering them. Many builders are now concentrating on selling their existing stock and they are not building new units. Some are offering ‘added value’ packages (for example free white goods in the kitchen) and some are offering more flexible payment terms. However one developer Polaris World took the unprecedented step of heavily discounting the last few unsold properties to ‘finish off’ 2 of their Resorts; the best example of this was in early April when to sell the last few remaining properties at their hugely popular La Torre Resort they offered 50% discounts – and all properties sold within hours, some within minutes (for more info on this Resort click on ‘La Torre’ in the left menu under the bullet point ‘Resorts & Developments’).

So if you are interested in a new property (‘Off-Plan’ or ‘Key Ready’) it is our opinion that this is an excellent time to buy. You can rest assured that “what goes around comes around” and when the market recovers, as it surely will, the builders and developers will make up the lost time (and profit) and prices will go up again.

‘Resale’ properties
The ‘Resales’ market is also affected, but more so. Many owners of Spanish properties are only selling so that they can ‘trade up’ to another Spanish property. Many are trying to benefit from the static prices the builders and developers are offering so many ‘Resales’ are offered at attractive prices. Some have secured such good deals with the builder or developer of their new property that they are willing to reduce their prices for a ‘quick sale’. As is always the case good properties will always sell. So if you are interested in a ‘Resales’ property it is our opinion that this is also an excellent time to buy. We only list good properties on our website so you can know that we have already vetted them all.

The currency market
The current state of the currency market should be addressed here too. What your Pound Sterling buys you at the moment is less Euros compared to say a year ago. But if you are not a short term investor any perceived extra costs in Pounds Sterling terms now may well be easily recovered by the gains in the rise in property values once the market conditions recover again - as stated above “what goes around comes around”. But if you are from a country that is already in the Euro then this does not affect you of course... lucky you! 

The macro market
Finally the macro markets need addressing. We cover the lovely southern Costa Blanca and the beautiful northern Costa Calida areas. The Costa Blanca is in some parts a concrete jungle – these parts we do not cover – and in other parts it is absolutely beautiful – these parts we do cover. The market in the Costa Blanca is generally harsher than that of the Costa Calida, so prices here are more affected, so in the southern Costa Blanca, the part that we specialise in, there are some excellent bargains to be had. The northern Costa Calida, that part that we also specialise in, is, against all of the odds, experiencing a boom! Given that the builders and developers are holding their prices, offering added value packages and more flexible payment terms NOW is a really good time to buy in the northern Costa Calida.

Northern Costa Calida boom
But why is the northern Costa Calida experiencing a boom? It is because it is different. It’s more ‘real Spain’ than many of the other Costa’s, and there are no high rise concrete jungles. It is far more rural and the Spanish themselves buy here. It has also experienced massive infrastructure investment – a new airport is being built at Corvera, a new motorway is planned and another has just opened, and the existing airport at San Javier has secured a €49million expansion investment. Tourist numbers are going up year on year, so it follows that this is a property ‘Hot Spot’ and many Northern Europeans are now beating a path to this beautiful part of Spain.

Summary
To summarise it is a mixed bag. The general view is that it is a harsh market at the moment, but that bargains and good deals are to be found and once the market recovers again prices will take off again. The current market conditions will not last forever, so if you are interested in buying NOW is an excellent time to buy! Hindsight is perfect as we all know, so now is the time to act to take advantage of the current market conditions, rather than waiting and paying more later.

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22nd May 2008