[Anonymous]

I guess the cost of life in Spain and UK will soon equalise…

Too bad the amount of Sun in UK cannot be changed on the money market…

[Anonymous]

I think we may look to holiday somewhere different this year and go out of the eurozone. We’ve noticed a sharp increase in the cost of meals etc in Spain over the last two years. We used to call it our cheapy holiday…not anymore!

[Anonymous]

The increasing cost of living in Spain is a growing problem. Many people buy here for a better quality of life and lower cost of living in retirement. As the cost of living differential with the UK shrinks, so does the reason for buying….Just another reason not to buy in Spain. Ho hum.

Mark

[Anonymous]

This, surely, has to be a big enough reason for us to ditch the pound and accept that we are Europeans and not Americans! 😯

[Anonymous]

@mark wrote:

The increasing cost of living in Spain is a growing problem. Many people buy here for a better quality of life and lower cost of living in retirement. As the cost of living differential with the UK shrinks, so does the reason for buying….Just another reason not to buy in Spain. Ho hum.

Mark

I’m sure if you do a poll, a larger % wouldn’t be able to live in UK on the money they live in Spain on. The cost of living is going up, but this effects all countries not just Spain

[Anonymous]

Fair enough Ian, but the differential has narrowed. I see it myself, though of course Barcelona isn’t the best place for living on the cheap. When I first came here 10 years ago, the price difference with London was huge. Now it’s a lot smaller.

Mark

[Anonymous]

@mark wrote:

The increasing cost of living in Spain is a growing problem. Many people buy here for a better quality of life and lower cost of living in retirement. As the cost of living differential with the UK shrinks, so does the reason for buying….Just another reason not to buy in Spain. Ho hum.

Mark

It was bound to happen, what’s happening here in spain is a rerun of what happened in Ireland around 1999-2002 and their Celtic Tiger. I call Andalucia Ireland with sunshine.

Business and well off people will pick the best locations and there will be less working class brits in Andalucia over the next few years and we should get back to price differentials between inland and the coast.

[mike]

@maximus wrote:

This, surely, has to be a big enough reason for us to ditch the pound and accept that we are Europeans and not Americans! 😯

It will encourage Brits to keep their money at home and stimulate the UK at the expense of the EU. We can still do that as we control our own interest rates, the Spanish do not and they will suffer because of it. I reckon they may be forced to leave the euro

[Anonymous]

A question for the ‘finance boffs’ out there:

What is the general feeling about how low this slide of the £ against the Euro can go?
Could it actually go below 1.30 or is it all just anyone’s guess and no-one has a clue?

[Anonymous]

Hi Charlie

Nice to see you posting again, and all good stuff, will join you in front of the demolitions if you come over from Greece, so upset for the Priors, there story really does focus the mind, with respect to all those that are having problems with ilegal builds lfo’s etc, this couple have had there HOME DEMOLISHED in front of them.
This is barbaric behaviour, the EEC and the british govenment should step in immediately, we should have gun boats out of Gib and freeze all further handouts to Spain fom the EEC pending enquires and sanctions.

My focus for the last 2 years has been to own a house in Spain, its not the property situation that will stop me but this total disregard for human rights.

Sorry wrong topic Charlie.

Was going to say the pound will not go below 1.31, can’t explain just now,but it wont during 2008 and it will have a technical bounce next week.

Will stand up and be counted,talk next week

Strve V

[Anonymous]

@Stevev6 wrote:

Was going to say the pound will not go below 1.31, can’t explain just now,but it wont during 2008 and it will have a technical bounce next week.

Will stand up and be counted,talk next week

Strve V

Let the standing commence 🙂
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7182951.stm

Looks like the men from the City are expecting it to stay low during 2008 – So should the question now be: Will people with €’s change into £’s and then when it bounces back change back with a nice % profit – Could be more appealing than the property market for some???

[Anonymous]

Hi Steve 😉 … and Ian
Many thanks for your replies and link. It isn’t until you see a graph like this that it does hit home the rapid fall of the pound from just last Summer.

The link Ian posted says:
“The problem for many economists is that the drop in the pound will not have an immediate effect on economic growth or manufacturing, forcing the Bank of England to cut rates throughout 2008, weakening the pound even more”.
So this article is intimating it could go lower or at least stay low??, will be interesting to see what happens. Really feel for those needing to complete and having to buy euros at the moment.

Steve wrote: “My focus for the last 2 years has been to own a house in Spain, its not the property situation that will stop me but this total disregard for human rights”.
Ditto, Steve.

[katy]

Charlie Ouch, looking at that chart hurts, all my income comes from the UK 😉

[Anonymous]

Tourist rate in yesterdays paper was 1.25 euros . Buying a euro would now cost approx 80p compared to approx 67p in the summer of 2007.

[katy]

We often visit our local chiringuito for a snack lunch. We can do it a few times a week as it is/was cheap! In 2006 we paid 15 to 18 euros this year 28 euros and we nearly always have the same. It is still reasonable but count in the higher cost of a euro, it is quite a hike.

[Anonymous]

Hi Katy – apologies for giving you a Sunday ouch 🙁
Thought you were off to warmer climes this weekend?? – or are you typing wearing a bikini somewhere??!!

[katy]

Packing a few things today 🙂 pet sitters arrive tomorrow. Off in a few days. Going to forget all about the Euro and Spain for a couple of weeks. You never know though I may just pop in if I get a bit of tropical rain.

[Anonymous]

I did not really notice a great deal of difference in the Tourist rate in September/October las year on holiday but then I did use a UK Exchange over the course of the year and the lowest Tourist rate that I got, commission-free, was 1.415, the highest, 1.455.

In Salou, Tarragona, Sitges and Barcelona etc. last year I did see signs of 1.45 but they had no mention of Commission and, as I had no need, I didn’t investigate. Barca was more expensive but if you looked around prices varied a great deal away from tourists throngs.
The average seemed to be around 1.38.

The worry now for UK buyers and expats who have all their income via the UK, plus of course tourists, is that everything will cost more or your income is effectively cut by a considerable margin; not nice when you are on a limited pension income with no Social Services or Benefits to fall back on.
I personally am rather worried about both the official rate and the tourist rate, especially as I’m going over to Denia again this year but my heart goes out to all those on the limited, fixed incomes; I know one or two couples that have said that they are not so well-off now but, knowing one couple in particular very well, I get the impression that it’s a lot more serious for them than they would like to admit.
A friend who was in the money markets says that it doesn’t look good for any major up-swing this year and he does know his stuff.
Problem is he also doesn’t see a major recovery in the future either.
stevmk2

[Anonymous]

I did not really notice a great deal of difference in the Tourist rate in September/October las year on holiday but then I did use a UK Exchange over the course of the year and the lowest Tourist rate that I got, commission-free, was 1.415, the highest, 1.455.

In Salou, Tarragona, Sitges and Barcelona etc. last year I did see signs of 1.45 but they had no mention of Commission and, as I had no need, I didn’t investigate. Barca was more expensive but if you looked around prices varied a great deal away from tourists throngs.
The average seemed to be around 1.38.

The worry now for UK buyers and expats who have all their income via the UK, plus of course tourists, is that everything will cost more or your income is effectively cut by a considerable margin; not nice when you are on a limited pension income with no Social Services or Benefits to fall back on.
I personally am rather worried about both the official rate and the tourist rate, especially as I’m going over to Denia again this year but my heart goes out to all those on the limited, fixed incomes; I know one or two couples that have said that they are not so well-off now but, knowing one couple in particular very well, I get the impression that it’s a lot more serious for them than they would like to admit.
A friend who was in the money markets says that it doesn’t look good for any major up-swing this year and he does know his stuff.
Problem is he also doesn’t see a major recovery in the future either.
stevmk2

[Anonymous]

There is a big question here, and I’m not sure where it leads.

If Spain still had the Peseta it would have devalued heavily by now (inflation at 4.3%, big inflation differential with rest of Europe, massive current account deficit).

But because Spain’s currency is the Euro, it is actually appreciating against the pound. There are several reasons for this, and none of them have anything to do with Spanish economic fundamentals.

This is unsustainable. One of the following must happen at some point:

1. Spanish recession and prices fall through wage compression.
2. Spain crashes out of the Euro, goes back to the Peseta.

Either way, the Pound’s purchasing power in Spain is unnaturally low at the moment. One day it will rise, but how knows when. In the meantime, given the poor exchange rate, it makes sense to use as big a mortgage as possible to buy in Spain (thus partially reducing your exchange rate risk). Problem is, Spanish banks appear to have turned off the mortgage tap. The current account deficit means that Spanish banks depend upon capital from abroad to lend (current account deficit = capital account surplus, but you all know that), and now nobody wants to lend to Spain. Can’t blame them.

Mark

[Anonymous]

There is a big question here, and I’m not sure where it leads.

If Spain still had the Peseta it would have devalued heavily by now (inflation at 4.3%, big inflation differential with rest of Europe, massive current account deficit).

But because Spain’s currency is the Euro, it is actually appreciating against the pound. There are several reasons for this, and none of them have anything to do with Spanish economic fundamentals.

This is unsustainable. One of the following must happen at some point:

1. Spanish recession and prices fall through wage compression.
2. Spain crashes out of the Euro, goes back to the Peseta.

Either way, the Pound’s purchasing power in Spain is unnaturally low at the moment. One day it will rise, but how knows when. In the meantime, given the poor exchange rate, it makes sense to use as big a mortgage as possible to buy in Spain (thus partially reducing your exchange rate risk). Problem is, Spanish banks appear to have turned off the mortgage tap. The current account deficit means that Spanish banks depend upon capital from abroad to lend (current account deficit = capital account surplus, but you all know that), and now nobody wants to lend to Spain. Can’t blame them.

Mark

[Inez]

Mark – fancy a vino and a curry to drown all this out??

[Inez]

Mark – fancy a vino and a curry to drown all this out??

[Anonymous]

In reply to Stevmk2, many people will be entering a period similar to that suffered by the British population during the reign of Henry V11, (1485-1509)the equivalent of todays Mr Darling was a certain Mr Morton, he taxed people higher and higher even though their incomes were falling and people were said to be in Morton´s Fork. Many people today living in Spain are in a position of receiving a fixed income whilst the cost of living rockets locally and the pound falls. They cannot sell their homes. I expect to see a whole swathe of schemes coming out offering extra income by taking out a mortgage on the property. My latin is not good enough to translate the equivalent of Caveat Emptor , when someone already has a property and is offered finance on it; but that they should use extreme caution.
The situation where people are given 80%-90% loans on their property at a high rate of interest is frightening , of course the adverts will stress that they can buy a new car, go on a cruise, eat out more often, return to UK to see the grandchildren more often etc etc . If property prices do fall as many expect, the poor old dears could soon be in a “negative equity” situation.

Although banks are very good at losing lots of money , as per Nick Leason and the guy from the French bank who managed to lose 4billion euro over a very short period. At the same time Banks are past masters at extracting vast sums out of a generally gullible public. Watch out their could be a thief about promising gifts.

[Anonymous]

In reply to Stevmk2, many people will be entering a period similar to that suffered by the British population during the reign of Henry V11, (1485-1509)the equivalent of todays Mr Darling was a certain Mr Morton, he taxed people higher and higher even though their incomes were falling and people were said to be in Morton´s Fork. Many people today living in Spain are in a position of receiving a fixed income whilst the cost of living rockets locally and the pound falls. They cannot sell their homes. I expect to see a whole swathe of schemes coming out offering extra income by taking out a mortgage on the property. My latin is not good enough to translate the equivalent of Caveat Emptor , when someone already has a property and is offered finance on it; but that they should use extreme caution.
The situation where people are given 80%-90% loans on their property at a high rate of interest is frightening , of course the adverts will stress that they can buy a new car, go on a cruise, eat out more often, return to UK to see the grandchildren more often etc etc . If property prices do fall as many expect, the poor old dears could soon be in a “negative equity” situation.

Although banks are very good at losing lots of money , as per Nick Leason and the guy from the French bank who managed to lose 4billion euro over a very short period. At the same time Banks are past masters at extracting vast sums out of a generally gullible public. Watch out their could be a thief about promising gifts.

[rt21]

From what I have read and also heard in discussions on the topic on the TV the signs are that sterling will depreciate further against the euro.

However, I remember last year reading a circular from a well known currency exchange organisation saying that sterling would fall against the euro and that it would be a good time to cover yourself if you needed to buy euros in the foreseeable future. I did just that only to find a few weeks later that sterling had appreciated against the euro!

Richard

[rt21]

From what I have read and also heard in discussions on the topic on the TV the signs are that sterling will depreciate further against the euro.

However, I remember last year reading a circular from a well known currency exchange organisation saying that sterling would fall against the euro and that it would be a good time to cover yourself if you needed to buy euros in the foreseeable future. I did just that only to find a few weeks later that sterling had appreciated against the euro!

Richard

[rt21]

Whooops

just realised that there is a page 2 to this topic and that my reply is out of context with the latest posts

Apologies for that

Richard

[rt21]

Whooops

just realised that there is a page 2 to this topic and that my reply is out of context with the latest posts

Apologies for that

Richard

[Anonymous]

I agree with some of Mark’s comments and there does appear to be some uncertainty as to what, if anything, the ECB will do in the light of the volatile markets at the moment but I really cannot see the Spanish going back to the peseta.
The BOE is saying that a rate cut in the UK is not likely in the very near future with one breath then implying that they might reduce in another sound-bite – confusing, but I can’t see them emulating the Fed – can you?

Thanks also to 135years waiting for your comments.

To be honest, I’m not quite sure how that relates to exchange rates but, nevertheless, very interesting. No slight intended either.

I say that because it seems that people on this Forum are a mite touchy lately, as Melosine pointed out and I’d hate to cause a huge thread of gripes and whinges.
Everyone has their own opinions and they are perfectly entitled to “voice” them as far as I’m concerned.

stevmk2

[Anonymous]

I agree with some of Mark’s comments and there does appear to be some uncertainty as to what, if anything, the ECB will do in the light of the volatile markets at the moment but I really cannot see the Spanish going back to the peseta.
The BOE is saying that a rate cut in the UK is not likely in the very near future with one breath then implying that they might reduce in another sound-bite – confusing, but I can’t see them emulating the Fed – can you?

Thanks also to 135years waiting for your comments.

To be honest, I’m not quite sure how that relates to exchange rates but, nevertheless, very interesting. No slight intended either.

I say that because it seems that people on this Forum are a mite touchy lately, as Melosine pointed out and I’d hate to cause a huge thread of gripes and whinges.
Everyone has their own opinions and they are perfectly entitled to “voice” them as far as I’m concerned.

stevmk2

[Anonymous]

Stevmk2

I realised when writing my reply that I had gone off the topic, it is just that I can see if the pound goes down further some people are going to be in a terrible position, at times like that banks come into their own with weird and wonderful schemes to “help “(?????? my punctuation) these poor people. We have seen it so many times, people sold financial products that were completely wrong for them.

I have no objection to people disagreeing with my views as long as they do it in a polite way, Stevmk2 your comments were politeness itself.

[Anonymous]

Stevmk2

I realised when writing my reply that I had gone off the topic, it is just that I can see if the pound goes down further some people are going to be in a terrible position, at times like that banks come into their own with weird and wonderful schemes to “help “(?????? my punctuation) these poor people. We have seen it so many times, people sold financial products that were completely wrong for them.

I have no objection to people disagreeing with my views as long as they do it in a polite way, Stevmk2 your comments were politeness itself.

[Anonymous]

135years – couldn’t agree more my friend.
I’ve gone without and scraped together over 1200 quid recently to clear credit cards and a loan just in case things get tighter and what do I get?

7 offers of loads of dosh this week alone!

Credit Crunch? What Credit Crunch!
Banks are devious b*******s and nothing seems to deter them from misleading their customers does it?!!

[Anonymous]

135years – couldn’t agree more my friend.
I’ve gone without and scraped together over 1200 quid recently to clear credit cards and a loan just in case things get tighter and what do I get?

7 offers of loads of dosh this week alone!

Credit Crunch? What Credit Crunch!
Banks are devious b*******s and nothing seems to deter them from misleading their customers does it?!!

[Anonymous]

135yearswaiting wrote:

Stevmk2

I realised when writing my reply that I had gone off the topic, it is just that I can see if the pound goes down further some people are going to be in a terrible position, at times like that banks come into their own with weird and wonderful schemes to “help “(?????? my punctuation) these poor people. We have seen it so many times, people sold financial products that were completely wrong for them.

If the pound goes down much further, then everybody in UK will suffer terribly. The petrol price will increase which will determine the food price to increase, etc.

The only chance to escxape hyperinflation in UK is to hold a strong Pound.

This is why Mr. Mervyn cannot cut the interest rates at will.

This year central banks will go through the fire with a petro container in their hands. Who knows who will survive?

[Anonymous]

135yearswaiting wrote:

Stevmk2

I realised when writing my reply that I had gone off the topic, it is just that I can see if the pound goes down further some people are going to be in a terrible position, at times like that banks come into their own with weird and wonderful schemes to “help “(?????? my punctuation) these poor people. We have seen it so many times, people sold financial products that were completely wrong for them.

If the pound goes down much further, then everybody in UK will suffer terribly. The petrol price will increase which will determine the food price to increase, etc.

The only chance to escxape hyperinflation in UK is to hold a strong Pound.

This is why Mr. Mervyn cannot cut the interest rates at will.

This year central banks will go through the fire with a petro container in their hands. Who knows who will survive?

[Anonymous]

katy wrote:

We often visit our local chiringuito for a snack lunch. We can do it a few times a week as it is/was cheap! In 2006 we paid 15 to 18 euros this year 28 euros and we nearly always have the same. It is still reasonable but count in the higher cost of a euro, it is quite a hike.

Prices here of food,restaurantes, are rocketing, quality is not increasing.
Prices used to be controlled now it is a free for all, the cobbler government comes out with is that the economy is ship shape and that Spain can weather the bad weather better than any other country in Europe, tripe as inflation is only 4,2%.

[Anonymous]

katy wrote:

We often visit our local chiringuito for a snack lunch. We can do it a few times a week as it is/was cheap! In 2006 we paid 15 to 18 euros this year 28 euros and we nearly always have the same. It is still reasonable but count in the higher cost of a euro, it is quite a hike.

Prices here of food,restaurantes, are rocketing, quality is not increasing.
Prices used to be controlled now it is a free for all, the cobbler government comes out with is that the economy is ship shape and that Spain can weather the bad weather better than any other country in Europe, tripe as inflation is only 4,2%.

[Anonymous]

charlie wrote:

A question for the ‘finance boffs’ out there:

What is the general feeling about how low this slide of the £ against the Euro can go?
Could it actually go below 1.30 or is it all just anyone’s guess and no-one has a clue?

I would think that it all depends on how free of government control the Bank of England really is , if Mervyn King caves into Mc Broon and his cohorts and cuts interest rates by 1/2% then the pound will be on the way to parity. Mr Trinchet of the ECB is made of sterner stuff and will only cut rates when he thinks it right, cutting rates now will be like putting petrol on a raging fire.

[Anonymous]

charlie wrote:

A question for the ‘finance boffs’ out there:

What is the general feeling about how low this slide of the £ against the Euro can go?
Could it actually go below 1.30 or is it all just anyone’s guess and no-one has a clue?

I would think that it all depends on how free of government control the Bank of England really is , if Mervyn King caves into Mc Broon and his cohorts and cuts interest rates by 1/2% then the pound will be on the way to parity. Mr Trinchet of the ECB is made of sterner stuff and will only cut rates when he thinks it right, cutting rates now will be like putting petrol on a raging fire.

[Anonymous]

“the British population during the reign of Henry V11, (1485-1509)

Gosh, you are ancient !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Anonymous]

“the British population during the reign of Henry V11, (1485-1509)

Gosh, you are ancient !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Anonymous]

@mark wrote:

2. Spain crashes out of the Euro, goes back to the Peseta.

I’d be a-ok with house prices, but still can’t get use to locals taking in pts for smaller items like a meal out etc….!
@inez wrote:

Mark – fancy a vino and a curry to drown all this out??

Now thats not fair, you don’t make an invite public without inviting the rest of us…!

[Anonymous]

@mark wrote:

2. Spain crashes out of the Euro, goes back to the Peseta.

I’d be a-ok with house prices, but still can’t get use to locals taking in pts for smaller items like a meal out etc….!
@inez wrote:

Mark – fancy a vino and a curry to drown all this out??

Now thats not fair, you don’t make an invite public without inviting the rest of us…!

[Anonymous]

Hi all

I wrote,

Was going to say the pound will not go below 1.31, can’t explain just now,but it wont during 2008 and it will have a technical bounce next week.

Will stand up and be counted,talk next week

Well it didn’t go below 1.31 and it still wont,and it was 1.35 last week(interbank) you can totaly forget about parity although of course 1.47+ is equally not going to happen any time soon.

1.40 by midsummer, is my call.

This will happen not by the strengh of the pound but by the depreciating euro when the markets find out the truth about the weak economies of some of the constituents, not all declare the data so openly as the US and GB.

You have had all the bad news from the USA and Britain, its only just begining from euroland.

Of course if the BOE reduce rates by half of one percent next time I will be eating my hat while standing, but I dont think so.

Steve

[Anonymous]

Hi all

I wrote,

Was going to say the pound will not go below 1.31, can’t explain just now,but it wont during 2008 and it will have a technical bounce next week.

Will stand up and be counted,talk next week

Well it didn’t go below 1.31 and it still wont,and it was 1.35 last week(interbank) you can totaly forget about parity although of course 1.47+ is equally not going to happen any time soon.

1.40 by midsummer, is my call.

This will happen not by the strengh of the pound but by the depreciating euro when the markets find out the truth about the weak economies of some of the constituents, not all declare the data so openly as the US and GB.

You have had all the bad news from the USA and Britain, its only just begining from euroland.

Of course if the BOE reduce rates by half of one percent next time I will be eating my hat while standing, but I dont think so.

Steve

[Anonymous]

Stevev6 wrote:

1.40 by midsummer, is my call.

Steve

This is also my current prediction. It is now at almost 1.35…

[Anonymous]

Stevev6 wrote:

1.40 by midsummer, is my call.

Steve

This is also my current prediction. It is now at almost 1.35…

[Inez]

Hi Ian – you can come along too and we can all drown our sorrows over a bottle or three!

[Inez]

Hi Ian – you can come along too and we can all drown our sorrows over a bottle or three!

[Anonymous]

This will happen not by the strengh of the pound but by the depreciating euro when the markets find out the truth about the weak economies of some of the constituents, not all declare the data so openly as the US and GB.

---

I certainly agree all is not well in the state of Euroland, Belgium almost ungovernable, Italy with a lousy economy and political instability, Spain´s problems I AM SURE i DO NOT HAVE TO COMMENT ON HERE. Portugal must be in a mess as well.

Some of the newer members probably publish rubbish economic data anyway and of course the original members fudged all the figures from the start so as to launch the Euro on time.

I feel that we ain`t seen nothing yet far as bad economic news is concerned, it just depends which will be worse the USA, Britain or Euroland.

[Anonymous]

This will happen not by the strengh of the pound but by the depreciating euro when the markets find out the truth about the weak economies of some of the constituents, not all declare the data so openly as the US and GB.

---

I certainly agree all is not well in the state of Euroland, Belgium almost ungovernable, Italy with a lousy economy and political instability, Spain´s problems I AM SURE i DO NOT HAVE TO COMMENT ON HERE. Portugal must be in a mess as well.

Some of the newer members probably publish rubbish economic data anyway and of course the original members fudged all the figures from the start so as to launch the Euro on time.

I feel that we ain`t seen nothing yet far as bad economic news is concerned, it just depends which will be worse the USA, Britain or Euroland.

[Anonymous]

@Stevev6 wrote:

…Was going to say the pound will not go below 1.31, can’t explain just now,but it wont during 2008 and it will have a technical bounce next week.

Will stand up and be counted,talk next week

Strve V

From the BBC 14 march 2008:
One £ buys you 1.28840 Euros

[Anonymous]

Steve: probably stood and counted way back in January 08. We are now in March 08. Two months is eternity in money terms or any other commodity for that matter.

[Anonymous]

ian_ok wrote:

Strve V

From the BBC 14 march 2008:
One £ buys you 1.28840 Euros[/quote]

1.26 as we speak.

I did not know in January 2008 that the situation is as bad as it really is.

[Paul]

I recently said there would be a run on sterling as it is artificially high against some currencies based purely on dollar weakness for example, and high interest rates in the UK. This seems to have started.

It is financial suicide to pay 15% or more to convert pounds to euros in order to buy euro properties wherever. A 400k property will now cost at least an extra 60k and maybe a lot more. When the euro goes back down as it will again, say by the same margin, it means losing 30% or more if you had to convert back to sterling.

Buying euro property for now is a non starter, it´s far too expensive in that case, but it could also fall further because of market turmoil. Agents often say it´s a buyer´s market, but not at these conversion costs.

[katy]

I can’t see many buying just now, the exchange rate is the final nail. bad news also for the local economy on the Costas as there will be less money being spent. Many here get their income from the UK. Even if they only spend 1000GBP a month they will have 160 euros less to spend locally.

Some Scandinavians and Germans are still buying though but they mainly tend to buy off each other (as do the Brits). Anyone selling and converting back to GBP could afford a substantial reduction.

[Anonymous]

Everyone talks about how bad it is for Spain because the Brits are not buying or because of the £ can someone tell me what %age of the Costa’s are Brits compared to other foreign nationals. (not just euro members)

[Anonymous]

JWC

I can answer that one,just finished watching a ‘Place In The Sun’ on the BBC. They say that in 2004 30% of all property sold on the CDS was to the Brits.

I have finally thrown in the towel for the time being on looking for a property, its just to risky at the moment, we were looking to spend 400k euro last summer, today you would need a 20% reduction on property value and another 20% off because of the exchange rate. This would make a 400k property 256k, cant see that happening.

Have eaten to many hats over the exchange rate saga,feel distincly unwell

Steve V

[Author]

Posts