Posted by mmmadmin on Jan 21, 2017 in News
The cranes that were previously left standing looking stark and lifeless because there was nowhere to put them are finally moving again on the Costa Del Sol and elsewhere in Spain. This is something that has not happened for many years and is a clear sign that after years of drought in the property market finally money is coming back into the area and oiling the cogs again. Prices have not rallied much, but with banks reporting significantly increased mortgage activity and sales on second hand properties slowly increasing, this must be good news for the Spanish economy. The only area that has not seen significant activity yet is sales of New Properties but remember there are nearly 800,000 empty new properties left to fill or will many of these fall into decline and never be sold. Too many are in row after row with no real character and not even that close to the sea so how difficult will it be to offload them. Prior to 2007 many developers thought that every foreigner would want a property on the Costas regardless of its location ! How wrong were they for as soon as the banking crisis hit hard and Economies collapsed that soon put paid to that theory. Those properties lie empty and dilapidated and an eyesore on the landscape! The Banks are still struggling to sell them off and have a long way to go. Brexit has definitely slowed the market and the Brits are hesitating and the GBP/ Euro exchange rate is not helping ! Theresa May needs to get moving with Article 50 and Trade Issues to get some confidence back into the Uk economy and foreign trade and then maybe we will see a recovery, but how long will that be….another year or 2 years ? Will the future French and Italian elections destabilise the Euro ! We all need stability in the markets, solid growth in all European economies and then maybe a proper recovery will ensue. Despite all the issues with the EU perhaps now is the time to consider buying your property in...
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Posted by mmmadmin on Jan 3, 2017 in News
This was a good year for the Spanish property market in general. We wonder what will happen next ? Will buyers come to Spain in 2017? Posted on December 12, 2016 in Analysis This was a record breaking year for Kyero, and a good year for the Spanish property market in general. We wonder what will happen next. The best thing about Spain’s dramatic property market in 2016 was the total lack of drama. Some may point to steady price growth for reassurance, but professional market watchers won’t be looking at prices; they look at transactions. Did people buy and sell houses? The good news is they did. House sales in Spain rose nicely in 2016, thus far recording a 15% rise on the previous year and ten consecutive quarters of growth. If you were looking for a marker, this means the Spanish property crash officially ended in Q2 2014 – and we haven’t looked back since. It’s all the more remarkable for the fact that this happened while Spain’s economy remained weak, with stubbornly high unemployment, restricted credit and a period of almost no government. In any normal market, nothing much should be happening. But Spain’s market has two unusual advantages: Firstly, it had nowhere to go but up. The 2008 crisis completely shredded the housing market, and only a zombie apocalypse could have sent it lower. Spain’s second advantage is international appeal. With one in five property sales going to foreigners, it can endure weak local demand. British, French, German, Dutch, Belgian, Italian and Swedish buyers continue to pick up the slack. The Brexit mystery It was no wonder Britain’s surprise decision to leave the EU dominated the year’s conversation. With Brits topping foreign demand, this must surely be the end of the Spanish housing recovery, right? Except it didn’t happen. There was initial scepticism when we reported overseas searches for Spanish property via Kyero.com hit all time highs after the vote, up over 50% on 2015. It turned out we weren’t wrong, and our largest agents have reported seeing record attendance at UK investor shows. Buyers may be talking about Brexit, but they’re still looking in large numbers. While these are good forward indicators, they admittedly don’t confirm completed sales. So what of notoriously slow official statistics? Same story: Third quarter numbers from the land registry show foreign sales close to all time highs. The UK property crisis is Spain’s gain It’s worth throwing in a curve ball that perhaps isn’t widely understood in Spain: The effect of UK house prices on Spanish housing. The British housing market is currently moribund, with prices rising way beyond all the laws of affordability, and transactions at historic lows. The winners of this situation are older Brits who find themselves sitting on a vast trove of property wealth (while homeownership becomes a dying dream for their kids). Read...
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