Monthly Archives: November 2009

Bank of Spain contemplating changes in property matters

Banking changes on property matters in tenerife and Spain may be on the way.

Banking changes on property matters in Tenerife and Spain may be on the way.

The Bank of Spain is contemplating the idea of raising provisions made by the banks for bank-owned repossessed residential properties in Spain on to their books to 30% of asset value in 2010, from 20% due to be implemented for 2009, it has been reported…

The Spain property market has endured a torrid time over the past couple of years, following a real estate boom, with values plummeting across the country.

Banks in Spain have been accepting property from struggling Spanish property developers who would have otherwise faced bankruptcy. Last month, the Bank of Spain told the banks they would be required to double their property assets provisions to 20% from 10%.

Zorro fans soon to be guests in Spain?

 

Zorro fans soon to visit Spain?

Zorro fans soon to visit Spain?

Zorro fans could soon become guests of Antonio Banderas, spending the night at his Spanish vineyard in a new hotel – the Hollywood heartthrob is looking into opening a small hotel to encourage wine tourism to the area and help increase production.

The actor, who has starred in Hollywood hits such as The Mask of Zorro, Shrek and Philadelphia, bought a 50 per cent share in the vineyard in the famous Ribera del Duero wine area of northern Spain earlier this year. The vineyard was subsequently renamed Anta Banderas and the Spanish national clearly has big ideas to develop the business.

Speaking to the Spanish newspaper El Mundo Banderos said: ‘I have plans to revitalise this project with conferences, for example, on wine and literature, and I want to promote wine tourism. ‘In fact, we are studying the possibility of building a small hotel to welcome wine enthusiasts because it is a marvelous place.’

Visitors to the vineyard could soon spend their days touring the vines to learn more about the red and rose wines made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and local grape Tempranillo, before bedding down for the night à la Antonio.

If they’re lucky, they may even coincide with a visit from the 49-year-old star himself. The voice of Puss In Boots in the hit film Shrek already does his bit for promoting tourism to certain parts of Spain.

Every Easter he returns to his home city of Malaga to take part part in the traditional religious marches through the streets, attracting scores of adoring fans. His wife Melanie Griffith is even well-known enough referred to by Spaniards simply as ‘La Melanie’.

New homes market in Spain showing signs of recovery.

New homes sector shows a recovery in Spain, Tenerife and the Canary Islands.

New homes sector shows a recovery in Spain, Tenerife and the Canary Islands.

The new homes market in Spain is showing tentative signs of recovery, according to the G-14 group of top Spain property developers – Pedro Perez, head of the G-14 was quoted as saying  that the sales of new homes in Spain will continue “consolidating in the coming months”.

There  is some basis for the developer’s optimism in the latest sales figures from the National Institute of Statistics.

The latest data released by the National Institute of Statistics reveals that sales of newly built properties in Spain increased by 7.6% from August to September, but remain down 20% year-on-year. It is good to see sales rise for the fifth consecutive month, something that means we can say that the sector is recovering since it touched bottom in April.

Spain property developers argue that sales on new homes in Spain are increasing thanks to lower prices and a greater range of mortgage loans on offer. This trend is emerging  in Tenerife and the Canary Islands also.

Brits entitled to a refund on property sold in Spain before 2007?

A refund may be available on property sold in tenerife and Spain by expats.

A refund may be available on property sold in Tenerife and Spain by expats.

A long-awaited ruling by the European Court of Justice means that Britons who sold property in Spain before 2007 and paid 35% in capital gains tax to the Spanish government could be eligible for a refund. Under the country’s tax laws, foreigners who sold property owned for more than one year paid the tax at 35%, rather than the 15% levied on Spanish citizens.

In addition, Spanish citizens paid their 15% over a certain threshold, while non-residents were assessed at 35% on the entire gain. The European Court of Justice has now ruled that the Spanish authorities discriminated against non-nationals.

A group of British non-residents who sold property between June 2004 and December 2006 are represented by Spanish lawyers, Costa, Alvarez, Manglano & Associates. Earlier this year, the firm estimated that the average amount to be reclaimed is £19,300 per person.

However, those who sold property more than four years ago may have already missed because claims for Spanish tax refunds are time limited.

Property prices continue to improve.

In Tenerife and the Canary Islands, property prices are beginning to recover once more.

In Tenerife and the Canary Islands, property prices are beginning to recover once more.

Tinsa property price index for October shows that average prices fell by 7.4% over the last 12 months. That’s the smallest fall in a year. Peak to present prices are down just 13.5%.

Even property on the coast showed a marked improvement, with year-on-year prices down just 9.9%, the first time the fall was not in double digits since November last year. Tenerife and the Canary Islands property  is beginning to improve sales wise once more.

Economic recovery indicates better real estate markets.

Tenerife property prices set to improve?

Tenerife property prices set to improve?

As parts of Europe enters economic recovery mode many real estate markets are also improving but at markedly different rates, according to a new report on trends in the investment, office, retail, industrial, hotels and residential sectors.

In Europe improving investor sentiment is driving activity forwards for a specific band of prime real estate but financing remains difficult to obtain, according to the Jones Lang LaSalle CEE City Report for the third quarter of 2009. ‘Occupier activity across all sectors has slowed compared to previous years as similar financing issues prevent or delay relocation and expansion plans.

Rental levels are beginning to bottom out in most of the core CEE markets and we expect stability to fully return throughout 2010 once the supply and demand levels rebalance,’ said John Duckworth, Managing Director of Jones Lang LaSalle in the CEE.  ‘These green shoots of recovery in the economy will still take some time to filter into the real estate markets,’ added Duckworth.

However, forecasts also suggest that the core CEE4 countries will gather momentum in 2011 and register average year-on-year growth of over 3% which is somewhat higher than the overall Europe forecast of 1%.

‘We believe that the lack of liquidity and the fall in positive sentiment that has affected CEE over the past 12 months, does now appear to be slowly changing. ‘Despite the recent positive news in the global economy, this will still take some period of time to work through into actual business confidence.

As the development pipeline continues to remain low again across all sectors, we expect a shift in balance from an occupiers market to a more balanced market in the second half of 2010 and then into a landlord’s market as we go through 2011,’ it concludes. If this report is correct that is great news for  the property sector inTenerife, Spain and the Canary Islands.

Cheaper travel may help the Tenerife economy.

Families can expect to save several hundred pounds a year because airlines  are being forced to discount prices.

Cheaper travel may help Tenerife's economy

Cheaper travel may help Tenerife's economy

Holidaymakers can look forward to a decade of cheap travel because of the global recession, according to industry experts so for those who rent out property in Tenerife this is great news.

One company estimated that the average British family spent nearly £2,092 on a holiday this year than a fall of £257 compared to 2007.

According to a Euromonitor the fall in spending has been due to families economising, staying in less comfortable surroundings and hunting for cheaper flights. In turn, this has led to companies discounting heavily as they try to cope with the dramatic drop in travel.

As a result, Euromonitor says, prices were 20-30 per cent lower this year than last and the trend is set to continue for a decade, said Caroline Bremner, the head of the research team. “People have been trading down,” she said. “The industry is caught in a vicious circle of discounting. “It will be hard to bring prices back up, even when there is a recovery, because people have got use to discounted prices.” The impact of the recession was outlined at the start of the World Travel Market in London’s docklands.

Ms Bremner also believes that Britain is set to follow America where the travel industry is now catering to the “funemployed” – people who, having lost their jobs, are spending their redundancy pay on the holiday of a lifetime.

Companies are offering discounts to the new army of jobless, using slogans like “laid off, take off” to win the business.

Package holidays had been on the wane with the increasing use of the internet and holidaymakers booking do-it-yourself holidays, hunting for the cheapest flights and accommodation. So if you have a property to rent or let for holiday or longer term, providing your price point is correct you should reap the rewards of this new era.

Easier to sell Spanish property to foreign investors

Easier for the Spanish and Canary Isles to gain investment from foreigners than vice versa

Easier for the Spanish and Canary Isles to gain investment from foreigners than vice versa

It is easier at present to try to sell Spanish property to foreign investors than foreign property to Spanish ones. At least there are still some buyers for property in Spain and Tenerife, if the price is right. Spanish investment in foreign property, on the other hand, has collapsed.

The latest figures from the Bank of Spain on cross border real estate investment reveal that foreigners invested 860 million Euros in Spanish property during the second quarter of the year, down 40% on the same period last year. The Bank of Spain’s figures include all real estate investment, not just residential investors.

Look further back, and the picture is even more demoralising. Foreign investment was down 55% compared to the second quarter of 2004, the peak of the Spanish property boom, when the rest of the world ploughed 1.9 billion Euros into Spanish real estate assets. It is now back to levels last seen in the first quarter of 2000, when it stood at 777 million Euros. The appetite of foreign investors for Spanish property has been declining since the start of 2008, after staging a minor rally in 2007.

Estate agents and developers in Spain may be feeling sorry for themselves in the current market, but they can be thankful that they aren’t trying to sell property abroad to Spanish investors, who have completely thrown in the towel.

Sterling sellers can sell cheaper and still end up with the same money!

A drop in sale price yet still the same Sterling to take back to the UK thanks to the exchange rate!

A drop in sale price yet still the same amount of sterling to take back to the UK thanks to the exchange rate!

The Spanish see that the property market has been abandoned by many UK buyers due to the poor strength of the pound. However, sterling sellers can sell at 20% below what the property was marketed at a year ago and still end up with the same amount of sterling to take back the UK with them.
Also,  the stock of B-money, which  comes out at this time for cash purchases will also support the economy for sometime, although it is foreseen that the recession will be sufficiently long in Spain and Tenerife as to draw out most of this ‘resource’. Maybe this is the Bank of Spain’s cunning plan to remove the alternative economy. Unfortunately, the raising of taxes may just encourage it even more.

Expats and problem tenants in Spain

Problems with tenants in Spain and Tenerife may be reduced by using an agent

Problems with tenants in Spain and Tenerife may be reduced by using an agent

According to Paragon España , part of the Paragon Advance group of companies offering tenant referencing and rent warranty in Spain, reluctant landlords in Spain are increasingly experiencing problems with bad tenants hit by the economic downturn.

It is claimed that the number of defaulting tenants and evictions have tripled in the past two years and many of the landlords who are experiencing problems are expats who moved to Spain for a better lifestyle and then became reluctant landlords. They have been forced into letting out their homes in order to be able to pay the mortgage and, for those investors who jumped on the Spanish property market, buying off plan, only to see it go into freefall before they could offload their investment, they have had their fingers burned and are having to let long term and ride it out.

Many expat landlords are unaware of the different mechanisms in place to secure rental income and often fail to implement them in their rental agreements which can leave them unprotected if the tenant does not, or cannot, pay the rent, according to Paragon España. This is where the use of a rental agent pays dividends and Tenerife is no exception to this rule.