This is a website for buyers, owners, and sellers of property in Spain, offering reliable information and resources to help you get things done with confidence. It is run by Mark Stücklin, author of the Spanish Property Doctor Column in The Sunday Times (2005-2008), and the book ‘Need to Know: Buying Property in Spain’ published by Collins.
The Spanish president and his wife have lost 160,000 Euros on their holiday-home in Vera, Almeria, reports the Spanish press.
After a year on the market and some big downward adjustments in price expectations, Zapatero and his wife have finanlly managed to sell their holiday-home in Vera (pictured above), for a loss of 38pc.
They bought the house at the top of the market in 2007 for 440,000 Euros, and put it up for sale in 2010 for 400,000 Euros. It has now sold for 280,000 Euros, 30pc less than their original asking price, according to the Spanish news website El Confidencial.
It’s sad they have lost money, but at least they know what it must feel like for countless other families who have also lost money on Spanish property, to some extent thanks to his government’s handling of the economy these last 7 years.
After stepping down as President in November, Zapatero and his wife are going to build a house in his homeland of Leon at a cost of almost 1 million Euros, according to Spanish press reports. At least he still sees Spanish property as a good investment.
Updated: 05/10/11
Graham Hunt (Houses For Sale In Spain) says:
Which is about right isn’t it? Selling for 30% below ridiculously exaggerated price expectation of the owner.
Peter George says:
Caveat Emptor.
Hope the buyer has done stringent checks to ensure property is legal.
Hope he/she does n´t receive a letter from Hacienda asking for more money, as they do not believe the purchase price. Of course if the buyer is Spanish no
problem on either count. If a foreigner………
RH says:
You can be assured that any outstanding debt was forgiven by the bank.
The virtual hundreds of thousands of people who lost their homes and remain owing the bank.essentially economically enslaved for live have no respite. Very sad, indeed.
Spain will be in a deep recession for years to come.
Mike Kerr says:
What a shame! And now he’s going to build himself a million euro house with some of the money he has stolen from the British.
Mickey Mouse says:
Go home english. So many thought you could just make money by buying in Spain. This didn’t help a property market, based on pure speculation. Zapatero is not to blame. As I recollect it all started in US, with Subprime mortgages, and the subsequent collaspe of Lehman Brothers. If you think Rajoy will do any better, you must live in cloud cuckoo land or the UK to be precise. Yes people with holiday homes don’t require, Education, Healthcare, social services etc, which will all be cut when the PP comes to power!
Mags says:
Perhaps we should tell all those Spanish people that have come across to the UK in the hope of finding work here, ‘Go home Spanish’. But no, we welcome them as we understand the Spanish have been as badly affected by, not so much the downturn in the Spanish property market, but the greedy Banks, Lawyers, Builders, Agents that took deposits on properties that were never built or finished. What has Zapatero done to help these people get their deposits back, some of them with Bank Guarantees (lol)? Nothing! So who thought they could ‘just make money’? It doesn’t take much intelligence to work that one out!