Spain

Spanish Property Market – as it stands

March 27, 2013
Property News
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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.

A Guide to Easter in Andalucia

March 4, 2013
Andalucia News, Festivals and Culture Events
No Comments
andalucia, cultura, culture, Easter Week, Semana Santa, Spain

A Guide to Easter in Andalucia

Holy Week in Andalucia is one of the most extraordinary events in the cultural calendar. Deep-rooted in tradition, both social and religious, the processions that take place throughout the region are well worth including on your holiday to Spain.

The largest and most spectacular processions take place in Seville and Malaga. Seville is most famous for its ‘Madrugá’ procession with the Macarena and Triana virgins who appear in the small hours of the morning. In Malaga, it’s the procession led by the Legionnaire soldiers (complete with their goat mascot) who take centre stage.

But all towns and villages, whatever their size, celebrate Easter with processions. You’ll often find that these smaller, less elaborate events give you the chance to soak up the atmosphere without the crowds in the larger cities. Probably the best place to see all this in the Axarquia region is in Nerja where the pretty, narrow streets add even more mystique to the occasion.

An Easter Procession Guide

For the uninitiated a Spanish Easter procession can be a confusing affair raising plenty of questions. It’s always better to know a little about what you will see prior to the event so this guide will help give you a general idea of who is who and what is what in a typical Andalucian Easter procession:

Brass band: The local band accompanies the procession and plays most of the time. The music is usually slow and solemn except on Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday when it’s more upbeat to match the happier occasion.
Brotherhoods: Local religious associations who own and look after the statues and floats that make up the main part of the procession. It’s considered a great honour to belong to one of the brotherhoods (most towns have several) and membership is traditionally passed down the family.
Floats: Called tronos or pasos in Spanish (literally thrones), there are usually two floats in each procession (one with a statue of Christ and the other of his mother in mourning, the Virgin Mary). The floats are decorated with hundreds of flowers and candles that surround the statue centrepiece.
Each float is massive and weighs several tonnes. Members of the brotherhood (known as costaleros) stand at each side of the float and walk along supporting it on their shoulders. The weight and effort involved in this means they can usually walk no more than a few paces before having to rest, the reason why processions last hours. Some bearers walk blindfold and/or barefoot.
Nazarenos: Men, women and children dressed in dark robes (usually black or purple) parade in front of the floats and they usually carry a candle or lantern. They also wear a long pointed hat that covers their face and has just two slits for their eyes. (It’s believed that the Ku Klux Klan adopted this outfit after seeing it during Easter in Spain.) On Easter Sunday, nazarenos dress in green, red or white.
Penitents: Men and women dressed in black (the women usually wear a black lace mantilla) and carrying lighted candles and rosaries, walk in front of or behind the float. Those doing actual penitence walk barefoot or even crawl along on their knees.
Saeta: This is an improvised song, part of the flamenco cante hondo (deep song) genre, in honour of the statues. It’s sung by an onlooker when the floats get to certain points in the itinerary and forms one of the most moving parts of the procession.

Easter Dates

This year Easter week falls between 24^th and 31^st March. The key processions include:

Palm Sunday (24^th March): A joyful celebration involving floats with statues of Christ on a donkey, this procession is joined by children and families who carry typical palm decorations.

Easter Monday-Thursday (25^th-28^th March): Mournful processions that increase in solemnity as they approach the small hours of Good Friday. Many that take place on the Thursday evening are silent except for the occasional saeta.

Easter Sunday (31^st March): In stark contrast, this is a happy event with upbeat music and church bells. Floats depict the Resurrection of Christ.

Reproduced with kind permission of:

Explore Nerja

Buy to Rent in Spain

January 29, 2013
Property News
3 Comments
buy property, Buy to rent in Spain, property investment, rent property, Spain

Whilst the Spanish property market maybe going though hard times, property is selling, albeit in much lower numbers than during the boom time. On the other hand, both the holiday rental and long term property markets are in high demand in our area of the eastern Costa del Sol and Costa Tropical.

Buy to Rent in Spain

When you buy a holiday home, you’re not only making a property investment. It is also an opportunity to make money in the long run by renting the holiday home in the weeks and months that you are not using it yourself, or take advantage of the much lower prices and buy a property to let all year round.

The video above will show you a few but important things you must consider in the acquisition of holiday homes – things that matter most in the rental potential of the property.

Target Group

Start by getting an idea of your target audience. By determining your target group of tenants, you will achieve the best results in your rental business – both in terms of earnings and customer satisfaction.

Your target group could be: young couples with no children, old couples with no children, families with children, groups of families with children, families with a person with disability, or perhaps a group of business travellers. Each group has different and specific needs. But if you are able to deliver 100% of their wishes and expectations, you can be assured of your success.

Location

First and foremost, your holiday home has to be in an ideal location where you would dream of living when you go yourself on holidays or vacations. Since you also need to consider your target group’s needs and requirements, it is advisable to find a location that is both perfect for your own and your target group’s holidays.

If your target group is families with children, for example, it is important that the home is safe – not close to roads with heavy traffic and speeding cars. Families with children also want easy access to supermarkets, restaurants, beaches, parks and playgrounds. If your audience are young couples without children, your holiday home can be closer to busy places and the bars. For business travellers in groups and for older couples, the holiday home can be in quiet and peaceful areas.

Other important things to consider, in terms of location, are the view and the distance to the airport. You might want to also think of its distance to golf courses and ski resorts.

Size and structure

The size of the accommodation that you choose to buy is likewise important for your target group. Smaller apartments are great for young and old couples travelling without children, while large villas are good for families with children. Larger villas are perfect for groups of families or business travellers.

Regarding how the house is laid out, think of the necessary equipment and facilities your target group is looking for: a number of bedrooms, private bathroom for each bedroom, and maybe more living rooms or work spaces. If you wish to rent for persons with disabilities, or in wheelchairs, make sure to provide direct level access and plenty of space in the bathroom, kitchen, bedroom, front doors, etc.

Features and Furnishings

The choice of house features and furnishings is also important for your target group. Nowadays, Wifi Internet access, cable TV, air conditioning and mosquito nets for windows and doors, are important for all groups. The same applies to washing machines and dishwashers. But there are big differences with other things.

Families usually find swimming pools an attractive feature that’s why pools can be important for groups of families for children. But, of course, do not forget safety. The pool must be adequately shielded with a fence. The entire outdoor area must be fenced, so parents can relax without being worried about where the children might walk or wander off. Likewise, remember to have a door or gate in front of stairs. Remember, it’s quite crucial to think about security if the target group is families with children.

Another thing to consider is that the furniture must look presentable. It’s generally recommended to choose pieces of furniture that are better than the cheapest in the market. Try to make the house comfortable, cosy and homey, and your guest will feel even more at home. Also, keep in mind the target audience when it comes to choices of furniture. If they are business travellers, there must be good work desks and chairs. If they are families with children, there must be high chairs, cribs, etc.

Holiday Renting

Once you have purchased your dream holiday home with the appropriate choices of location, size, design, features and furnishings for the target group in mind, renting it out is much easier and more pleasant. Most rent the property on a weekly basis as rental income on short-term rentals is significantly higher than the long-term ones. Also, implementing short-term rentals makes it easier for you to use your holiday home for yourself, your family and your friends.

The normal level is 20-30 weeks of rental per year. Advertising about renting can be either through your own website, vacation property portal or agency. The rental itself can be managed by either you as the owner or a skilled agent in the area that you choose. Tasks are to meet with customers, provide keys, accept payment and check guests out, etc. In most cases, cleaning is done by local cleaning companies.

Long Term Renting

If you should decide to rent long term the overall financial annual gain may be lower than short term lets, but you are secure in the knowledge that it is rented all year round, at a fixed monthly rent, with the tenant paying all the utilities. Maintenance and wear-and-tear on the property is also reduced. In coastal and touristical areas you will find that many of the tenants are couples, often with no children, and a simple one or two bedroom property will suffice in many cases. If it’s a villa or large town house that you have, then this will appeal to families with children.

Split Renting

In an ideal world, you can split the year into 6 months during winter to cater for the winter residents, switching to short term holiday lets for the summer. In this way, you can also allow room for your own booking!

In summarising, the Spanish property market now offers good property at very attractive prices. If you’re thinking of moving into the market, to buy to rent, then this is the time.

The bases of this article and the video have been supplied by John Kramer at Spain-Holiday.com and is reproduced with his kind permission. Here at LPG Spain, we have added some additional content and advice to the original article.

Note: A Spanish version of this article and video will be published in the near future.

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%.

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