España

Spanish Property Market – as it stands

March 27, 2013
Property News
No Comments
España, marketplace, mercado inmobiliario, property, propiedades, Spain

LPG Spain was recently approached by the web site, Spain Made Simple, asking us our opinion on the current state of the Spanish property market for their newsletter.

We were more than happy to oblige. Here are their questions along with our answers:

Q. Are property prices in Spain going down, up or stabilizing?

A. Spain’s property market is now into its seventh year of recession. During this time prices have dropped significantly from the heady heights of pre 2007, prices of which many claim, had to drop. During this period, many thousands of estate agents, developers and builders have disappeared, leaving a hard core of professionals still struggling to survive. However, price performance has varied considerably in different parts of Spain depending primarily on its clientele, domestic or foreign.

Within the domestic market, Spaniards have seen the bottom drop out of their market with prices coming down up to 60% in some areas as banks haul in repossessions and unsold new stock from developers that have gone out of business. Added to this, the banks are also offering 90% + mortgages to the Spanish who buy any of their stock.

On the other hand, coastal regions have fared much better as the majority of buyers are from overseas. Whilst it‘s been a complete buyers market over the last 4 – 5 years, where purchasers have been offering very low bids on property already drastically reduced, there are regions that are now beginning to recover, which leads me to the next question…

Q. Who represents the main buyers now, is it the Spanish or has another foreign market taken over from the British?

A. The Costa Blanca reports thriving business from the Russians. The Costa del Sol has been almost invaded by the Scandinavians, in particular those from Sweden and Norway, whilst the British, historically the nation that has purchased more property in Spain than anyone, is still a little conspicuous by their absence, although in the past six months have shown an increase in property purchases in Spain.

As an Estate Agent on the east Costa del Sol, in Nerja, Edwards Estates also employs Swedish staff, and can attribute 75% of sales last year to this market. We would also go as far as to say that during the course of this winter, the problem that we are having is not a shortage of clients, but a shortage of quality and well priced property. This indicates that the majority of prices in our area are still overpriced, in the eyes of the purchaser, but property that is priced well for the region is selling quickly.

Concluding, we see that 2013 may be the year that prices do stabilize in areas that are in demand, whilst the Spanish domestic market will continue to suffer with even further reductions in price added to the main problem for potential buyers, uncertainty in the job market and the unemployment situation, currently at over 5.000.000 people, still rising and expected to reach 27% of the active working population this year, more than fifty percent of which are people under the age of 30. Not an easy situation for those trying to get onto the property ladder.

Robert Edwards – Administrator of LPG Spain.

Forbes Magazine: “It’s a good time to invest in the Spanish property market”

March 7, 2013
Property News
1 Comment
España, Inmuebles, property, Spain

The great grandson of the founder of the business magazine Forbes, Miguel Forbes, considers it a good time for foreign investors to bet on the Spanish real estate market. “Property valuations and stocks are low, it’s time to buy,” he said.

In a presentation of Forbes magazine in Spain, the founder’s great grandson says he is confident the magazine will serve to better understand the success and recipes of millionaire entrepreneurs, such as Amancio Ortega, founder of Inditex (Sara shops and boutiques), who has recently appeared in third place in the annual list of the richest people in the world.

Editor’s note: It’s good to hear some positive news about property and Spain in general.

Foreign House Buyers in Spain up 28.4 pc in 2012

March 5, 2013
Property News
3 Comments
España, property, propiedades, Spain

A total of 38,312 foreign, non-resident nationals in Spain bought a home last year. This represents an increase of 28.4% compared to 2011, according to the Notary Association. 42% of the transactions closed at a price above 160,000 Euros.

By region, Murcia and Andalusia are the two regions where the number of buyers has fallen, whilst Catalonia last year recorded more than twice the number of buyers as compared to 2007. The origin of new homeowners has also changed, because for the first time the Russians represent the second largest volume of homebuyers, behind the British.

Regarding prices, 42% of transactions closed for an amount in excess of 160,000 Euros, precisely the figure that the Spanish government has set as a recommended amount in order to grant residence permits to foreigners who purchase a home in Spain. This however, is still subject to final legislation by the government.

Buy a house in Spain and obtain a residence permit.

Energy certificates now required in Spain for properties for sale or rent

January 11, 2013
Property News
23 Comments
calificación energetica, certificado de energía, Energy Performance Certificate, España, Spain

From April onwards an energy certificate will be required to sell or rent homes in Spain.

Those who sell or rent a house built before 2007 will need a mandatory energy performance certificate. According to the Ministry of Industry, the royal draft decree will be approved this month but will allow a period of adjustment of two months before this becomes law in April 2013.

This is yet another requirement that comes from Europe and was expected to be adopted before 1st January this month. The industry ministry said that if this draft was not approved by the deadline, Spain would probably face a penalty from Europe.

Once the new law is enforced all owners who wish to sell or rent their homes must have available to the buyer and / or the tenant this “energy certificate”. Protected buildings and monuments will be excluded, as well as places of worship or residential buildings that are subject to a lease for less than four months a year.

Therefore, each house will have a label similar to those already used in electrical appliances indicating how efficient it is in terms of energy consumption. This label is currently used for new houses and classifies each property with a color code according to a scale of from “A” (the most efficient) to “G” (least efficient).

Travel High Speed from London to Malaga

January 8, 2013
Costa del Sol News, General News, Málaga News
No Comments
AVE, España, High Speed Train, London, málaga, Spain, Tren de alta velocidad

The new and latest link in the Spanish AVE high speed train network was opened today between Barcelona and Figueres on the Spanish/French border. So now you can catch the high speed train from London to Paris, change for a train to the Spanish border, hop on the next stage to Barcelona, and finally change for the non-stop AVE link right the way though to Sevilla, Cordoba and Málaga in southern Spain.

The AVE is a very comfortable, clean and efficient way to travel and offers an alternative to flying and definitely to driving. With speeds up to 300 kms an hour, it’s a wonderful way to see the countryside whilst travelling in style. All comforts can be found on board with full catering facilities, Wi-Fi and PC computer connections, newspapers and magazines, in-train videos and music, 2 and 4 berth sleepers, private toilets and showers, and for business and first class passengers breakfast, a full 3-course lunch or dinner and drink service brought to your seat.

Travelling times:

Paris – Barcelona in six and a half hours.

Paris – Madrid in 10 hours.

Barcelona – Málaga (without changing in Madrid): five and a half hours.

The AVE service has been in operation in Malaga since 2007 and connects to Sevilla, Cordoba, Madrid, Valladolid, Valencia, Barcelona and Girona. There is also a section open in La Coruña which will eventually link up with Madrid as well as an extension from Málaga to Granada, currently under construction. Spain has today the biggest network of high speed trains in Europe.

Has the Spanish Property Market Bottomed out yet?

December 29, 2012
Property News
No Comments
España, House prices in Spain, IVA, precios de la vivienda, Spain, VAT

The Spanish property market is now coming to the end of its fifth year in recession, and as with all previous slumps (the last one occurred in the early nineties), there comes a time when property prices stop falling, the market stabilises, and a certain confidence returns attracting once more a desire to purchase a property in Spain.

Upon reading the endless statistics from many official and unofficial sources it would appear that prices in Spain have fallen, on average around 40% across the board. If you listen to the banks in Spain, the reduction is even greater, perhaps as much as up to 60% when you buy one of their re-possessed properties. And just recently there have been reports that the Spanish banks are up to their old tricks in offering 120% mortgages to buyers of their properties in order to cover al the purchasing expenses.

The latest figures on property prices in Spain have just been published by Idealista.com, one of Spain’s foremost portals. Although scanning values across the country continue to show a decline in prices, there are now some signs of a turn-around in the last quarter of this year in certain towns where prices have actually increased:

In the province of Málaga: Benalmádena up 4.4%, Nerja up 1.5%, Ojén up 1.3% and Marbella up 0.1%. Other towns in Spain also show increases, particularly in coastal regions and on the Canary Islands.

It’s a very small beginning but the tide turns in all cycles. Will 2013 be the year that the Spanish property market begins to steady itself, which in turn will be news in itself, and begin to attract the buyers as before?

Increase in VAT

As from January 1^st the VAT on the purchase of a new property rises from the present 4% to 10%. As in the last quarter of 2011 when property sales increased due to the fact that the VAT would increase 1^st January of this year (which was extended), there are already signs to indicate the same trend will continue in the last quarter of this year. One of the problems that Spain has at present is the huge amount of unsold stock of new property which is unlikely to reduce to any great extend next year with the increase in VAT. There are rumours that the Government, after reviewing figures when published for the last quarter, may decide to revise the law once again and decrease the VAT to a level to attract buyers for this stock pile, much of which now belongs to the “Bad” bank, recently set up in Spain.

This is perhaps a key factor to the forces controlling prices in Spain, so long as there is such a quantity of unsold property available, especially from the banks, general resale property prices cannot rise by any significant amount.

Estate Agents in Spain

The recession has brought about the demise of thousands of property agents in Spain. As a result, their now exist a hard-core of professional estate agents who have been able to ride the storm and are best placed to offer the best possible advice to new purchasers. This is positive for the sector, as before there were simply too many agents, and secondly, too many with insufficient experience to provide professional advice for what is the biggest investment that most people make in their lives. This confidence, between client and agent, is another key factor in the present scenario and will help in revitalising and assisting the market… perhaps in 2013?

Formula 1 Pre-season testing for 2013 to commence in Jerez

December 16, 2012
Andalucia News, Sports News
12 Comments
Barcelona, España, F1 pre-season testing, Jerez, pretemporada de Fórmula 1 de 2013, Spain

Next year’s Formula 1 pre-season testing will take place at Jerez and Barcelona.

Entry to the circuits is available on the day, no advance reservation is needed. The daily sessions normally start around 9.00 and run through to 5.00 pm with a lunch break.

It’s expected that most of the teams will present their new cars for the season at the first test in Jerez.

Dates:

1. Circuit de Jerez (Spain) – 5^th – 8^th February 2013

2. Circuit de Catalunya (Spain) – 19^th – 22^nd February 2013

3. Circuit de Catalunya (Spain) – 28^th February – 3^rd March 2013.

2013 Formula 1 Calendar

(as published by the FIA on 5^th December 2012)

17/03 Australia
24/03 Malaysia
14/04 China
21/04 Bahrain
12/05 Spain
26/05 Monaco
09/06 Canada
30/06 Great Britain
07/07 Germany
21/07 Reserved for another European event*
28/07 Hungary
25/08 Belgium
08/09 Italy
22/09 Singapore
06/10 Korea
13/10 Japan
27/10 India
03/11 Abu Dhabi
17/11 USA
24/11 Brazil
*subject to the approval of the relevant ASNs.

House prices in Spain fall by 15.2% in the third quarter, the biggest drop since 2007

December 14, 2012
Property News
No Comments
España, House prices in Spain, Precios de la vivienda en España, property, propiedades, Spain

The price of housing in Spain has fallen by 15.2% in the third quarter of 2012 compared to the same period last year, which means a decrease of eight tenths, as provided by the price index from the National Institute of Statistics.

The decline in the price of new houses has fallen by 13.6%, eight tenths less than the previous quarter. In terms of resale properties the inter-annual variation was seven tenths, a fall of 16.4% in the third quarter. These rates are the lowest since the statistics started in 2007.

Prices in Spain have now fallen consecutively over the last five years returning negative variations. Prices started to drop in the second quarter of 2008 (-0.3%) and since then the trend has not yet been reversed.

Autonomous Regions of Spain

When looking at house prices across Spain, prices have dropped in all autonomous areas with the exceptions of the Balearic Islands where they have reversed the trend and risen by 1%, in Andalucia +0.3% and the Basque region +0.3%.

Just one month remaining to save VAT on a property purchase in Spain

December 1, 2012
Property News
No Comments
España, impuestos, IVA, property, propiedades, Spain, taxes, VAT

With just one month remaining before the VAT on the purchase of a New property in Spain increases from the current 4% to 10% on 1^st January 2013, there is still time to benefit and save money.

In order to save paying this increase you must complete the purchase of a new property by signing the title deed before a notary prior to 31^st December 2012.

What is a new property?

A new property is one that has never been registered to a first time buyer, i.e. that from a developer, a builder or even a re-possession from a bank as long as it has never been registered for the first time to a purchaser.

Despite many things taking time to accomplish in Spain, buying a property can in fact be extremely quick – just 7 days! Once having decided to purchase a New property, all paperwork can be checked by a lawyer, searches made at the land register, and all necessary appointments made at the notary all within 1 week. As long as the vendor and purchaser (or their notarised legal representatives) and funds to purchase are available, the property can be signed before a Notary within this time frame.

So if you’re still pondering and want to save 6% on your purchase costs, there’s still time to do so.

Here are some examples of New property in and around Nerja where you can save the 6% VAT before the end of the year:

2 Bedroom, 2 bathroom luxury built apartments in Torrox Costa with private underground parking spaces and lock-up storage room and 2 communal swimming pool complexes from just 195.000 Euros.

Coastal plan to prevent building within 500m of the sea in Andalucia

November 30, 2012
Costa del Sol News, Costa Tropical News, Property News
No Comments
coastal law, España, Junta de Andalucia, ley de costas, Spain

A NEW decree aims to protect Andalucia’s coastline by preventing anyone building on the first 500m of land.

Under the coastal protection plan, launched this week, no new construction projects can be launched and all existing plans will need to go through rigorous tests to prove they are environmentally viable.

The decree will affect 52 town halls stretching over a thousand kilometres of coastline.

The aim is to halt construction of all projects that were planned during the property boom of the 80s and 90s, but are not compatible with today’s regulations.

Reproduced with kind permission of the Olive Press. Read the full article:

Coastal plan to prevent building within 500m of sea in Andalucia.

LPG Spain comments:

This new proposal is all very well but after over forty years of booming construction in Spain, much of which is on the coast, it’s a bit late to bring such a measure into force. In many cases, the damage is already done.

Algarrobico – Almeria

However, better late than never! There still exists much coastline, outside of towns and villages, which is still virgin, some of it forming part of National Parks. But even despite this protection, some authorities in the past have tried to pass legislation allowing construction in these areas, one such example is the hotel that was built in Almeria in the Cabo de Gata-Nijar National Park, declared illegal and stopped in 2005 and which is still subject of a final demolition order.

Spain needs to clean its act up and protect remaining coastal regions from further construction contamination. In a round-about way, this could also at the same time add more value to existing property already built along Spain’s long coastline.

In a similar way inland, and since the introduction of a new law in 2001 by the Junta de Andalucia, drastically reducing the possibility of building in the countryside, prices of large property fair better as they cannot be built again.

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