Less hefty mobile phone bills for travellers in Tenerife.

July 3, 2010 – 6:25 pm
Cheaper mobile phone costs when visiting Tenerife, the Canary Isles and Spain

Cheaper mobile phone costs when visiting Tenerife, the Canary Isles and Spain

Travellers to Europe, including Tenerife and Spain, are less likely to incur hefty bills for using their mobile phones abroad, under new regulations that have come into force. A new maximum charge of 32p per minute, down from 35p, will apply to all calls made while travelling within the European Union, while mobile phone operators are now obliged to place a €50 (£41.50) cap on all data roaming charges, unless specifically requested not to do so by the customer.

A mobile phone user’s network must now send a warning to the customer if they approach the data-roaming cap, and automatically cut the mobile phone’s internet connection if the cap is reached. While the cost of downloading data remains the same, the change should prevent travellers unwittingly running up huge bills for using the internet.

The charge for receiving calls while abroad has also been cut, to a maximum of 12.5p per minute, down from 15.5p.

The changes follow repeated calls by the European Commission for mobile phone networks to reduce their charges, and frequent reports of holidaymakers returning home to discover mobile phone bills totalling hundreds, or even thousands of pounds.

“Mobile phone companies were given ample opportunity to act on the cost of using phones in another EU country,” said Labour MEP Arlene McCarthy, who steered the law through the European Parliament. “In the end it has taken EU action on every issue – calling, texting and now data roaming – to bring prices down.”

However, about 60 per cent of Britons still believe the data-roaming cap should be lowered, according to a recent survey. “The EU roaming cap is a positive step to prevent enormous bills on returning from abroad,” said a Budgetplaces spokesperson. “But our research shows that UK travellers believe that the €50 cap is still too high.”

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

Real estate recovery under way in Tenerife, Canary Isles and Spain?

May 1, 2010 – 10:40 am
Real estate recovery in Tenerife, the Canary Isles and Spain?

Real estate recovery in Tenerife, the Canary Isles and Spain?

It is looking hopeful that the real estate market recovery is underway in Tenerife, the Canary Isles and Spain. Indeed, the latest figures from the National Institute of Statistics indicate that the property market grew by 16% in February compared to the same month last year. According to analysts the market has touched bottom and is starting to recovery after two years of decline but the improvement is patchy and volumes are still 47% below what they were in 2007.

And the latest property price index from Tinsa shows that prices fell by 5.3% over the 12 months to the end of March, a slight improvement on the previous month. The figures from Tinsa, one of Spain’s leading appraisal companies, are however based on their own valuations not actual transaction prices.

There are no major signs of foreign property buyers returning to the Spanish market. The latest figures from the Bank of Spain shows that the amount of money invested by foreigners in Spanish property has fallen to the lowest level in a decade. Foreigners invested €3.7 billion in Spanish property last year, the lowest level since 1999, when it was €2.9 billion. Foreign investment in Spanish real estate was down 32% last year compared to 2008, and by 48% compared to 2003, when foreign investment in Spanish property peaked.

The weak economy, high unemployment and enormous inventory of new houses will slowdown any recovery in the Spanish market, according to a report from PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Urban Land Institute into European property market trends. According to another recent report from Deutsche Bank, a recovery is unlikely before 2012 and it might even be 2015 before there is an upturn.

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

Residential property price changes in the Canary Isles and Spain.

March 27, 2010 – 5:38 pm

Prices in Spain, Tenerife, the Canary Isles and the Balearic Islands. Having improved for four consecutive months since September last year, prices on the coast decreased by 8.2% over the 12 months to the end of February, and by 8.9% in the Canaries and the Balearics. So since the peak of the market in December 2007 prices are down 15.7% nationally, 22% on the Mediterranean coast, and 16.8% in the Canaries and the Balearics, based on Tinsa figures.
 
But the latest figures from the National Institute of Statistics, which are based on actual sales figures supplied by lawyers, show that property prices fell by an average of 4.3% last year and by just 10% since the peak, seemingly backing up the trends identified by Tinsa. They also show that resale property prices fell 3.5% last year and actually rose by 0.1% on a quarterly basis in the last three months of the year.
 
The Spanish government claims there are signs of recovery. The latest figures from the Ministry of Housing shows there was a small rise in property sales in the fourth quarter of 2009. ‘The transactions in the fourth quarter represent a rise of 4.1% with respect to the same period last year, this being the first year-on-year rise since the fourth quarter of 2006,’ it said in a statement.
 
But like the Tinsa figures, when the data is put into a wider context the picture is not quite as rosy. The government figures show that there were 413,112 transactions last year, a fall of 19% compared to the previous year, and 46% down on 2007. Even the fourth quarter sales were down 33% compared to the same period two years ago.

Property price changes in Tenerife,Spain and the Canary Isles.

Property price changes in Tenerife,Spain and the Canary Isles.

Residential property fell nationally by 5.5% over the 12 months to the end of February, according to the latest real estate price index.There is a degree of stabilisation, with the index remaining the same as the previous month, said appraisal company Tinsa. But the headline figures hid the fact that in some markets prices are still falling considerably.
 
A closer examination of the Tinsa figures, which are based on valuations not sales, shows a different story for real estate on the Mediterranean coast,

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

No major turnaround in property market

January 4, 2010 – 2:08 pm
No major upturn in the property market on mainland Spain, whilst Tenerife and the Canary Islands show an improvement

No major upturn in the property market on mainland Spain, whilst Tenerife and the Canary Islands show an improvement

There has been no major turn around in the health of the property market in mainland Spain but no lurch downwards either. Homes sale in September, not including social housing, stood at 33,276, up 7.4% on the previous month, but down 19% on the same month last year. Compared to 2 years ago, sales in September were down 42%, which just shows how much the market has shrunk since the boom.

The figures show that, though the market is significantly smaller than it was, it is not getting any smaller. It appears to be bumping along a floor of around 30,000 sales per month.  Monthly sales have come down compared to 2007 and 2008.  The market is still depressed in volume terms, but not getting worse the islands, such as Tenerife appear to be improving in fact.

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Easier to sell Spanish property to foreign investors

November 10, 2009 – 4:58 pm
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.

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