This weeks exchange rate news

March 8, 2010 – 2:21 pm

The Pound has been falling at an alarming rate, following Friday’s weak GDP revision (showing last year’s economic contraction was even bigger than expected) and new worries about Quantitative Easing.

On Thursday, the Bank of England announced no change to interest rates.  In virtually all currencies, sending money overseas is becoming rapidly more expensive due to falling exchange rates. Remember that it is possible to secure your exchange rate up to 2 years ahead to avoid exchange rate risk 

Exchange rate fluctuations in Tenerife caused by the falling pound

Exchange rate fluctuations in Tenerife caused by the falling pound

By Angela | Posted in Economy, General, Holiday, Inspirational, Miscellaneous Articles, Property, Tenerife, Things to Do, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

A good result for sterling in the property market.

February 21, 2010 – 12:08 pm

The value of overseas properties owned by Brits actually rose by more than £2.6bn, according to research. In many countries, the devaluation of sterling against the local currency was greater than the drop in property prices.

Sterling exchange rate means a profit for British property sellers in Tenerife and Spain

Sterling exchange rate means a profit for British property sellers in Tenerife and Spain

Property prices fell across much of the world last year, but looking at property in France, Spain, Portugal, Italy and the US. In France, for example, where prices declined by an average of 6.63 per cent in 2009, the Euro gained 13.22 per cent against the pound, giving an estimated 98,000 British owners an average gain – in sterling terms – of £10,373 per property. In Spain the fall in prices was even greater, but British owners are still looking at a profit in sterling terms. .

 There has been a lot of volatility in the currency markets recently and many expect this to continue. This is having a huge impact on the value of property owned by British people abroad and in many cases it is more influential than price changes in the local property markets.The research also highlights the need to get your timing right with overseas property purchases, and to consider forward foreign exchange contracts, as opposed to relying on spot prices

By Angela | Posted in Economy, General, Health, Holiday, Inspirational, Miscellaneous Articles, Property, Tenerife, Things to Do, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Opportunities still exist in Tenerife and Spain’s property market.

December 14, 2009 – 4:05 pm

Opportunities still available in Tenerife, the Canary Islands and Spain

Opportunities still available in Tenerife, the Canary Islands and Spain

We think there are  good investment opportunities in Spanish  and Canarian real estate today, but some are risky. In three years we’ll probably be kicking ourselves for not advising more investors to invest now. There aren’t many opportunities in commercial real estate because there isn’t much product and rents haven’t yet adjusted. In residential, on the other hand, the correction has been very strong and fast. The ideal profile now is an opportunistic investor buying properties off banks by taking on the existing debt, a type of real estate venture capital.

There are hundreds of thousands of possible transactions, but not so many genuine opportunities. What there is not is any financing, so anyone who wants to take advantage of this market has to take the debt with the asset.

House prices touched bottom some time ago, they had to fall. The price of land has fallen faster than house prices although it could even fall a bit more.  In the US and the UK prices have fallen around 20% from the peak whilst here we have only fallen by 8%. Valuations appear to be down 30% in 2 years.. One has to look at real property transactions and a survey of developers to see not only their asking prices but how far they are prepared to drop prices to sell.  Quite a few homes are being sold more than 200,000 homes a year in fact. What is not selling is off-plan, as there you take the risk of the developer or builder going bankrupt? It’s a good time to buy newly built homes with Euribor at 1.24%. They won’t be any cheaper next year. And when prices start to rise they will do so at a rate of 10% per year. Perhaps that purchase in Tenerife should be made sooner rather than later!

The residential sector is already recovering, just not the developers, who won’t see the light at the end of the tunnel for three years; it is very bleak for them. We believe that developers have dropped their prices to the minimum.  The recovery is underway, although this won’t show up in the official statistics until the first half of 2010. As soon as there is a general perception that things are getting better, house prices will stop falling and start rising.

By Angela | Posted in Economy, General, Holiday, Inspirational, Miscellaneous Articles, Property, Tenerife, Things to Do, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Spanish property tours to visit England

September 11, 2009 – 4:05 pm

Spanish property exhibitions to visit England

Spanish property exhibitions to visit England

Taylor Woodrow will mark its 50th anniversary by touring England with a series of Spanish property exhibitions throughout September.

The exhibitions will offer people looking to buy property in Spain information on Spanish homes and locations, plus Spanish properties that have been reduced in price by up to 41 per cent, to reflect the recent slump in the Spain property market.

Victor Sague, Marketing Director of Taylor Woodrow de Espana, said, ” From talking with our estate agency partners in the UK, we expect there to be significant interest in these offers from both investors and second home hunters.”

Experts will be on hand to advice house hunters at each of the exhibitions, which will be held around England from Sunday 13-23 September.

There are many homes available in seaside and golfing locations throughout Mallorca, Costa Blanca, Gibraltar and Marbella,  Tenerife and the Canary Islands. A  high number of homes will be sold throughout the couple of weeks of exhibitions as it will provide house hunters one last chance to buy a quality home at a fantastic price. It really is now or never for people to take advantage of these top quality homes as these discounts will not be around for long.

By Angela | Posted in Economy, General, Golf, Holiday, Inspirational, Miscellaneous Articles, Property, Tenerife, Things to Do, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Tax breaks up for grabs

June 10, 2009 – 3:14 pm

Tax breaks up for grabs for UK property owners in Tenerife

Tax breaks up for grabs for UK property owners in Tenerife

Owners of second homes in Europe including Tenerife, may be able to benefit from some new tax exemptions – but for one year only. One of the surprise measures in the recent Budget was an extension of tax breaks on furnished holiday lettings in the UK to similar properties in the rest of Europe. The government decided to make this change because it was worried that having different treatment of holiday lets in UK and the rest of the EU was a breach of European law, but at the same time it said it would be too expensive to offer the tax breaks indefinitely, so they will be abolished altogether in April 2010.

The benefits apply to properties that meet a set of qualifying conditions, which are basically that the property must be available for letting as holiday accommodation for at least 140 days during a 12-month period; and it has to actually be let for at least 70 days, with each letting shorter than 31 days.

So what exactly are the benefits? The most attractive one is that, if you make a loss on the property once you have offset all your outgoings against your rental income, that loss can itself be offset against your other income, including your salary. So if you’re a 40 per cent taxpayer then 40 per cent of any loss is effectively recovered through a reduced tax bill. Alternatively, the loss can be carried forward and offset against future letting profits.

Another benefit is that if you have owned the property for more than 10 years, and you decide to sell it in the current tax year, you are liable for capital gains tax on only one quarter of the profit. So for the 40 per cent taxpayer, that means you are only liable for CGT at an effective rate of 10 per cent (40 per cent x 25 per cent of profit). If you were thinking of selling your property, and there’s potentially a big profit since you bought it, now is definitely the time to act. What’s even better is that the exemptions are retrospective over the last five years, so you may be able to reclaim tax already paid. This will be a surprise windfall for overseas holiday home owners, and one that could save them a significant sum in tax. A higher rate taxpayer who has been making a loss of £5,000 a year for the past five years would be entitled to reclaim £10,000, while someone who sold their property and paid £30,000 capital gains tax may now be able to claim back as much as £28,000.

On the minus side, taxes paid overseas are not affected by this, and you may find it difficult to prove that your property meets all the criteria to qualify. Your estate agent in Tenerife should be able to assist you in these matters

By Angela | Posted in Economy, General, Holiday, Miscellaneous Articles, Property, Tenerife, Things to Do | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Beckham back in European football

January 12, 2009 – 6:03 pm

Beckham playing for Inter Milan

Beckham playing for Inter Milan

Rafa Benitez’s amazing press conference on Friday set the tone for the weekend, as the Spaniard fired a tirade in the direction of Ferguson. Liverpool’s players failed to deliver in Saturday’s evening kick-off at the Britannia Stadium against Stoke. In truth Liverpool were lucky to gain a point.

On Sunday, Manchester United beat a Chelsea  side who after being let off the hook by Howard Webb’s decision to rule out Cristiano Ronaldo’s header from an ingenious set-piece routine, they failed to defend the retaken corner. This time it was Nemanja Vidic left unattended at the far post as Petr Cech’s attempt to claw out the Serbian’s header proved to be in vain just before half-time. Further goals from Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov underlined United’s superiority, watched by Inter Milan boss Jose Mourinho - on a scouting mission.

Steve Bruce’s Wigan recorded a sixth league win in seven games as Maynor Figueroa’s last gasp header led Harry Redknapp to conclude his Tottenham side may not have the required character to beat the drop.

West Brom were not outplayed by their Midlands neighbours Aston Villa in what was an entertaining derby, but led by the increasingly impressive Gabriel Agbonlahor and Ashley Young, O’Neill’s Champions League chasers recorded a 2-1 victory that extended their unbeaten run to nine games.

Arsenal beat Bolton, though for 86 minutes it looked as though Gary Megson’s men  had done enough to earn a draw. Substitute Niklas Bendtner,  finished from Robin van Persie’s  delivery and ended Bolton’s hope of an unlikely point.

Everton’s recent return to form continued at Goodison Park as Hull City, slumped to a deserved 2-0 defeat. It was derby day in the North East as Sunderland made the short trip to Teesside to take on Middlesbrough at The Riverside. Afonso Alves’ well taken effort on the stroke of half-time owed much to wantaway Stewart Downing’s invention, while the manner of Boro’s defending for Kenwyne Jones’ equaliser eight minutes from time will disappoint Gareth Southgate.

The game of the weekend in terms of unadulterated entertainment came at St James’ Park as Newcastle and West Ham played out a 2-2 thriller.

A frozen pitch at Craven Cottage saw Fulham’s clash with Blackburn postponed, while Portsmouth’s game with Manchester City also failed to beat the frost.

Primera Liga
Barcelona continued their relentless march towards the title with a sixth successive victory. Pep Guardiola’s side came from behind to beat Osasuna 3-2, with Samuel Eto’o, Xavi and Lionel Messi on the scoresheet.

Arjen Robben, Raul and Sergio Ramos found the target as Real Madrid crushed Real Mallorca 3-0 to move second.

Valencia and Villarreal shared six goals in a thriller on Saturday and Sevilla defeated Deportivo La Coruna 3-1.

Serie A
Beckham, on loan from Los Angeles Galaxy, was a surprise starter as AC Milan drew 2-2 at Roma, with Alexandre Pato netting a brace for the Rossoneri and Mirko Vucinic scoring both of the home side’s goals.

Also on Sunday, Juventus moved to within four points of leaders Inter Milan as Alessandro Del Piero’s free-kick gave them victory over Siena.

Inter had been held to a surprise 1-1 draw by Cagliari on Saturday, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s strike cancelling out Robert Acquafresca’s opener.

Scottish Cup
Hearts beat 10-man Hibs 2-0 thanks to goals from Christian Nade and Gary Glen, while Dundee United also moved into the fifth round with an emphatic 4-0 win against East Stirlingshire.

Celtic stayed on course for a domestic double as they came from behind to see off Dundee 2-1. Aberdeen, Hamilton, Inverness and Falkirk also advanced in the competition.

Ligue 1
Lyon could only play out a 1-1 draw with Lorient, while in-form Rennes claimed a narrow 1-0 victory over Grenoble.

Bordeaux took advantage of Lyon’s dropped points on Sunday as they thumped Paris St Germain 4-0. Souleymane Diawara, Fernando Cavenaghi, Yoann Gourcuff and Fernando Menegazzo grabbed the goals.

Best of the rest

Porto slipped from first to third in Portugal as they were held to a goalless draw by Trofense. Benfica and Sporting Lisbon occupy the top two spots after wins over Braga and Maritimo respectively.

Europe’s other top leagues remain on winter break. The Eredivisie resumes on Friday but the Bundesliga is not back until the end of the month.

By Angela | Posted in Premier League football, Sports Desk | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Premier League Round-up

December 29, 2008 – 1:47 pm

Liverpool  finish the year on top of the Premier League table. and will head into 2009 looking down on the rest of the division after an emphatic 5-1 victory over sorry Newcastle United at St James’ Park.
Poor finishing and inspired goalkeeping from Shay Given kept the scores level until the 31st minute when Steven Gerrard crashed his shot in off the post following a neat move involving Javier Mascherano and Yossi Benayoun.
Just five minutes later Sami Hyypia, who had already gone close twice, rose above Fabricio Coloccini to head home a Gerrard corner. Newcastle gave themselves hope for the second half when David Edgar headed home a corner at the near post in injury-time.

However, the hosts’ gameplan was in disarray again five minutes after the interval when Ryan Babel poked home from close range after a string of defenders failed to clear a corner. Gerrard grabbed his second of the game on 66 minutes when he darted on to a superb through ball from Lucas before clipping a delicated shot over Given and the rout was complete on 77 minutes when Xabi Alonso tucked away a penalty after substitute David N’Gog had been tripped by Edgar.

Chelsea lost ground in the title race after being pegged back by West London rivals Fulham late on in a 2-2 draw at Craven Cottage. With  a minute to go, Chelsea were undone by a set-piece as Davies swung in a corner which the unmarked Dempsey guided inside the post to stretch the Cottagers’ unbeaten run to nine games.

Former Blackburn boss Hughes saw his current side City produce a stunning late fightback to claim a 2-2 draw at Ewood Park. City substitute Sturridge sparked a dramatic comeback as he volleyed home two minutes from the end after Andre Ooijer failed to clear Robinho’s ball into the box. In the fourth minute of stoppage-time, Sturridge played a magnificent pass into the feet of Robinho and he slotted beyond Paul Robinson.

A moment of misjudgement from David James cost Portsmouth  as Arsenal ground out a 1-0 win at Emirates Stadium. William Gallas met Denilson’s free-kick before James to nod into an empty net.

Stoke are set to finish the year in the relegation zone after going down 2-1 at a resurgent West Ham. The visitors enjoyed a dream start by taking the lead after just four minutes when the unmarked Abdoulaye Faye headed home a corner at the far post.

The Hammers equalised six minutes after half-time when Carlton Cole swivelled sharply to curl his shot into the far corner after Stoke’s Andy Griffin had failed to clear Scott Parker’s pass. Before Stoke were able to kick-off, Potters striker Fuller was sent off for slapping his team-mate Andy Griffin, who he saw as culpable for Cole’s leveller.

Fuller’s moment of madness proved even more costly when the Hammers snatched a winner two minutes from time as Cole’s shot took a decisive deflection off substitute Diego Tristan, who  also appeared to be in an offside position .

West Brom made it two home wins on the spin after leaving it late to see off 10-man Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 at the Hawthorns.

Wigan moved up to seventh in the table after Amr Zaki’s second penalty in the space of 48 hours secured a 1-0 win at Bolton.

Ricky Sbragia endured a miserable first game after being named Sunderland’s manager on a full-time basis after suffering a 3-0 defeat at Everton.

By Angela | Posted in Premier League football, Sports Desk | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

European weekend soccer review

December 22, 2008 – 12:53 pm

Premier League

Liverpool missed the chance to extend their advantage at the top of the Premier League  as they drew against 10-man Arsenal at Emirates Stadium. The Reds never truly gained the upper hand or threatened Manuel Almunia’s goal.

Manchester United celebrating victory in the Club World Cup final in Japan

Manchester United celebrating victory in the Club World Cup final in Japan

Gunners boss Arsene Wenger and Adebayor were both left fuming over the red card, with referee Howard Webb not helped by Alvaro Arbeloa’s theatrical reaction to the challenge from the Togo international.

Liverpool have now drawn four of their last five matches and, although they remain strong contenders for the title, further dropped points in the second half of the season could see their wait for the top-flight crown extend into a 20th year.

Aston Villa continue  to try to upset the status quo in the Premier League and climbed into third place on Saturday with a late victory over West Ham at Upton Park.

West Ham will spend Christmas only one point above the relegation places with further upheaval predicted in the January transfer window.

Mark Hughes’ festive celebrations may also be somewhat muted with Manchester City after  a last-gasp defeat at the hands of bottom club West Brom. Roman Bednar’s late header ensured that while the Baggies will be bottom on 25th December, they are at least in touch with the teams above them. The Hawthorns outfit are also the only side in Premier League history to beat the drop having been bottom at this stage of the season.

Blackburn are the occupants of the third relegation place, but they too have cause for optimism after Sam Allardyce made an immediate impact on his return to football management by guiding his new club to a 3-0 victory over Stoke City bringing an end to Stoke’s four-game unbeaten run and leave Tony Pulis’ men just two points clear of the bottom three.

Newcastle have managed to put some distance between themselves and the drop zone, with substitute Damien Duff grabbing a last-minute winner against Tottenham at St James’ Park on Sunday. For all Spurs  improvement under Juande Ramos’ replacement the White Hart Lane side are only a point above the relegation trapdoor.

Sunderland claimed arguably the most impressive result of the weekend as they followed up their 4-0 home win over West Brom with a 4-1 triumph away to high-flying Hull City.

Fulham, unbeaten in the last six games move into the top half of the table and can also boast a defensive record which is only bettered by Chelsea and Manchester United. They triumphed 3-0 over Middlesbrough in a clash which saw some questionable decisions by the match officials.

Bolton climbed above Portsmouth and into ninth place in the table after a 2-1 victory at the Reebok Stadium.

Primera Liga

Barcelona extended their lead at the top to 10 points after they came from behind to win away at Villarreal with goals from Seydou Keita and Thierry Henry.

Juande Ramos secured his first league win as manager of Real Madrid at the second time of asking as a Gonzalo Higuain goal was enough to see off Valencia.

Second place Sevilla could only draw 0-0 away at Mallorca while Atletico Madrid recorded their fourth successive league win to move them up to third after a 3-2 victory at Espanyol.

Serie A

Leaders Inter Milan remain six points clear at the top after a Maicon double handed them a 2-1 win away at Siena, the winner coming in the 83rd minute.

Juventus sit second after they won away at Atalanta 3-1.

Roma’s 10-game unbeaten run in all competitions ended as they went down 3-2 away at Catania meaning they slip to 11th.

AC Milan sit third as they thumped hapless Udinese 5-1 at the San Siro with Brazilian pair Kaka and Alexandre Pato helping themselves to two goals apiece.

SPL

Rangers briefly cut Celtic’s lead at the top to just a point after Kris Boyd scored the only goal of the game at home to Hibernian on Saturday.

However the Hoops restored their four-point advantage 24 hours later when they beat Falkirk away 3-0.

Ligue 1

Leaders Lyon remain three points clear of Bordeaux in second after they defeated Caen 1-0 away with Karim Benzema getting the goal.

Laurent Blanc’s men remain hot on their heels after a thrilling contest at Monaco winning 4-3.

Marseille slip to fifth after they suffered a surprise 3-0 home defeat by mid-table AS Nancy.

Eredivisie

AZ Alkmaar temporarily stretched their lead at the top to six points after a 2-0 win over FC Utrecht.

Second-place Ajax emphatically reduced the gap back to three points when they hammered De Graafschap away 6-0.

PSV remain nine points off top spot in fourth place after a 1-0 home win over Feyenoord.

Steve McLaren’s FC Twente lie third five points off the leaders after they beat Willem II 2-0 at home.

Meanwhile in Japan, Manchester United pictured above were crowned  winners of the  Club World Cup beating Ecuador’s South Amercian champions Liga de Quito 1-0 in the final.

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Scandal of bribery in Tenerife football league game

December 5, 2008 – 12:25 pm

The head of the Spanish Football Federation (SFF) yesterday called for an investigation into allegations made by a player at second division side Tenerife that he was bribed to lose a key match. The player, Jesus Mora Nieto, known as Jesuli, said he received around 6,000 Euros  to ensure Tenerife lost a match on the last day of last season that ensured opponents Malaga won promotion, the newspaper El Mundo said. Jose Luis Astiazaran, head of the SFF, called on committees “which are following the case to open an investigation and take action”.

By Angela | Posted in Sports Desk, Tenerife | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)

Premier and European football league review.

December 1, 2008 – 2:17 pm

Arsenal are back in the title race after a stunning win at leaders Chelsea as Wayne Rooney’s 100th career goal settled the Manchester derby.

Tony Adams enjoyed his first home win as Portsmouth manager, while David Moyes celebrated his 300th game as Everton boss with a narrow victory at Tottenham.

Robin van Persie struck twice in the second half as Arsenal came from behind to win 2-1 at Chelsea, whose stuttering form at Stamford Bridge continues. This win still leaves Arsenal seven points behind their London rivals, but very much back in the race.

Manchester United showed  that local rivals City still have a long way to go to become a major force after the champions won 1-0 in the 150th derby. United grabbed the decisive goal three minutes before half-time when Michael Carrick’s shot was pushed out by Joe Hart to provide Rooney with a simple tap-in. Cristiano Ronaldo picked up his second yellow card after inexplicably raising his hands to stop Rooney’s corner. Ronaldo, who had been cautioned moments earlier for a foul on Shaun Wright-Phillips, and claimed to have heard a whistle.

Harry Redknapp suffered his first home defeat as Spurs boss as Steven Pienaar’s goal earned Everton a 1-0 win at White Hart Lane.

Everton’s joy was marred by an early injury to Yakubu, with the Nigerian striker to miss the rest of the season with a ruptured Achilles tendon. The only goal arrived six minutes into the second half after Pienaar received a quickly-taken free-kick and his shot took a wicked deflection to fizz beyond a helpless Heurelho Gomes.

Portsmouth provided Adams with his first three points at Fratton Park after a thrilling 3-2 victory over struggling Blackburn.

The main talking point from Saturday’ matches surrounded the increasing pressure facing Sunderland boss Roy Keane following a comprehensive home defeat by Bolton, while Wigan sunk rock-bottom West Brom.

UEFA Champions League hopefuls Aston Villa drew with Fulham, Premier League new boys Stoke and Hull shared the spoils, while the Tees-Tyne derby ended in a drab stalemate.

In Europe, Barcelona, Celtic and Inter Milan continue to lead the way in their respective leagues in a busy weekend of  action.

Barcelona brushed aside Sevilla on Saturday to keep the chasing pack at bay in Spain while Celtic capitalised on Rangers’ slip-up at Hearts by seeing off Inverness.

Inter Milan made it five wins on the bounce in Serie A after easing past Napoli. Hoffenheim continue to defy the critics after beating Arminia Bielefeld.

Spain

Real Madrid have slipped further behind the leading pack as they lost 3-1 to Getafe while the top three all won. While Barcelona were cruising to success  by 3-0 at Sevilla on Saturday, Bernd Schuster’s side went down to Getafe - their second Liga defeat in three outings. and Valencia won against Recreativo Huelva and Real Betis respectively on Sunday to keep up the pressure on Barca. Recreativo’s fourth consecutive defeat ensures they remain rooted to the foot of the table.

Scotland

Celtic capitalised on Rangers’ surprise 2-1 defeat to in-form Hearts by moving seven points clear at the top of the SPL table after beating Inverness Caledonian Thistle  at Parkhead. Shaun Maloney grabbed the only goal of the game as The Bhoys boosted their chances of retaining their SPL title. Earlier on Saturday goals from Marius Zaliukas and Laryea Kingston ensured Gers’ patchy form away from Ibrox continued.

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