This topic contains 24 replies, has 8 voices, and was last updated by 
- Posts
http://www.diariosur.es/20100607/economia/compraventa-viviendas-malaga-primer-201006071309.html
Have been a few threads recently suggesting things were either “picking up” “hectic” “phones never stop ringing” to will have to set on more staff. This report suggests otherwise. Sales down 4.5% compared with last year, and they were pretty dire too.
@katy wrote:
http://www.diariosur.es/20100607/economia/compraventa-viviendas-malaga-primer-201006071309.html
Have been a few threads recently suggesting things were either “picking up” “hectic” “phones never stop ringing” to will have to set on more staff. This report suggests otherwise. Sales down 4.5% compared with last year, and they were pretty dire too.
No one is buying, from what I can see, people are taking their houses off the market and the banks are repossessing the rest.
When reading the hype from these sales people, bear in mind that there are around 1.6m homes for sale in Spain, theyre not going to disappear any time soon, what with the real “austerity” effects about to kick in. And remember, none of these spending cuts have been implemented yet, peoples incomes are going to be affected and there will be far more job losses.
So I wouldn’t take too much heed from what the estate agents say. Prices have a long way to come down yet.
Add to the mix that most high end (over 80k Euro) property in Spain is bought by foreigners and most of the buyers are British (90% was the figure I heard), and the fact that the equity withdrawal to pay for Spanish property will come from a rapidly reducing (UK/Ger/NL) asset store. And add
First, collapsing house prices in the UK will have a disproportionate affect on the amount UK sellers will have to invest ( 10% decrease in UK price can mean, for example, 30% less to use against a new purchase).
Second, CGT increases will have a massive hit on pensioners looking to retire , disproportionate to the effect on the UK economy
Third, general tax increase will have a significant effect on UK (and many other EU tax payers). Again, the effect is far worse for country’s like Spain that rely on discretionary spendingThe simple fact is there will be nobody to support existing Spanish property values, never mind supporting the 1.x million properties that are coming available.
Just to emphasise some telling stats..
The sale of homes in Andalusia fell 20.91 percent in the first quarter of 2010 for the same period in 2009,
in Andalusia in the average mortgage loan signed was at EUR 105 988 in the last 12 months, 14.93 percent lower from a year earlier. I
Add in that the BoS are going to force banks to write off 30% of housing stock values, and you have the potential for a perfect storm.
We have seen a sustantial pick up in sales this year compared to last year. You can choose to believe me or not.
In regards to the ‘drop’ its worth digging a bit deeper. This drop is accounted for by the the drop in new build completions. In fact resales actually increased ever so slightly.
I was talking to a lawyer friend of mine in Marbella, and he is definitley more busy with conveyancing this year. Having been glum for years he actually sounded a bit perky about the situation. He said other lawyers he knows are also noticing a bit of an improvement. Long may it last.
We sold a property in Antequera last month and our lawyer (from Marbella) said that his conveyancing work had increased slightly.
He also said that asking prices in our area had become more realistic – in view of the mortgage situation at the Spanish Banks.
(Many are providing only 80% mortgages) 😥The link to the report in SUR is given a credible source…el colegio de registadores. If they were going to manipulate the figures it is always in a positive slant. I would give this more credibility than a couple of agents saying otherwise. It says:
Sales are down over 20% compared with 2009 What would they gain by making that up?Not suggesting they are making anything up, but there does appear to be some conflicting data (if my lawyer friend is right, that is). One hypothesis that comes to mind is that the better end of the holiday-home market has recovered slightly whilst primary housing in the province (local market suffering from Spain’s economic crisis without the help of diversified, wealthy, European-wide demand) is taking a beating.
@katy wrote:
The link to the report in SUR is given a credible source…el colegio de registadores. If they were going to manipulate the figures it is always in a positive slant. I would give this more credibility than a couple of agents saying otherwise. It says:
Sales are down over 20% compared with 2009 What would they gain by making that up?sales are down for the period and the figures are correct. But it refers to total sales (new build and resales). Resales are in fact up ever so slightly.
Also just because some are seeing a pick up in business does not mean the the market in malaga as a whole is picking up. Just that they are getting more work or the city/municipality is seeing some improvement.
Well, we’ve seen a 100% increase in offers being made year to date.
Ok, so last year the numbers were pitifully low and this year is improved but we are a small firm inland from Malaga so we are hardly a key for wider market trends!
The biggest problem with any headlines is that they are simply generalisations. The fact is that the agent down the road or the next village may not be doing so well.
We are thankfully.
OK I give up….all you agents are doing f******g marvellous. Time will tell 😆
Hunky-dory 😉
Hunky-dory 😉
Things have quietened off very much during the last 6 weeks (and I would suggest this is likley to continue through August).
If last autumn was anything to go by, we’ll have a blip from mid September through to end October and that’ll be it for the year.
Still got one completion end July and one for mid August which is 2 more than we had in the same months last year!
Where are you based Aunty Val? Is that La Linea?
No, midway between Malaga and Antequera. Small village called Villanueva de la Concepcion
Looks like a new round of tax increases are coming to Spain. Doesnt bode well for the property market.
No one is buying, from what I can see, people are taking their houses off the market and the banks are repossessing the rest.
Where do I find those repos from Banks?
Search the forum, I posted about 10 such sites a couple of months back.
But, they are not cheap. The deal is, that they will give you 100% mortgage if you are resident, but you’ll be paying over the odds on the initial price, by some 10-40% depending on the property.
So not recommended unless you see something you really like.
He is not in a rush, has been looking for 2 years. Shows how little prices have dropped.
Although it has not been reported yet in the press (as far as i know) sales in the 2 trimestre should show an increase of approximately 6.4% compared to last year.
comparing the first 8 months of last year to 2010 though sales are still down just under 4%.
EDIT: figure for province of Malaga
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.