Buying opportunities in Tenerife and Spain

December 13, 2011 – 12:10 pm

Property bargains abound in Tenerife and Spain

The recent credit crisis has opened up some superb buying opportunities for buyers seeking a second home in Spain. While prices have fallen typically 25% from their peak.

For example, the Polaris World resorts were made famous by endless TV adverts featuring Jack Nicklaus before the recession hit, now these superb, complete golf resorts have a small proportion of unsold properties which the banks are keen to sell.

Buyers are advised to move quickly as much of the stock made available by the banks has sold in the last twelve months. Prime position property is becoming more difficult to find for buyers and the future of such cut price deals and mortgages remains uncertain with the government bailout of CAM about to result in a sale to a stronger banking group in Spain.

Villa Cashback MD Paul Williams remains cautious about continuing half price deals. “At this stage we don’t know what form a future CAM bank will take and what the pricing strategy of the new banking group will be. What we do know is that a weak CAM bank has so far undercut the stronger banks in pricing their property. Now it’s about to be bought by a stronger institution there’s no guarantee of the property giveaway continuing.”

Brand new apartments are available on resorts such as Hacienda Riquelme where front line golf apartments are available at less than half their original prices. Mortgages of up to 90% are available for overseas buyers. The resort has proved extremely popular with UK and northern European buyers this year.

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

Spain’s property reign ended by America

December 12, 2011 – 10:22 am

US overtakes Spain in the property market

The reign of Spain has been ended by America, according to the latest Top of the Props report .

Spanish property used to be the favourite for buyers, with the sunny Costas attracting swarms of house hunters every year. But now there’s a new top dog as the US replaces Spain in the overseas property portal’s rankings, upsetting the market’s established order to become the most popular destination in November.

The US has long played second fiddle to both France and Spain for property buyers but in October, America leapfrogged France to become a surprise runner-up in TheMoveChannel’s chart. Now, an increase of 7.01 percent in enquiries has seen the US surge to number one, with foreclosed homes and bargain house prices eclipsing the opportunities available in Europe.

Spain could only stand and watch as enquiries fell by 2.38 per cent last month, despite its half-price VAT reduction on new homes until the end of the year. France, on the other hand, remained firm in third place, attracting exactly the same number of enquiries in November and October, demonstrating the country’s consistent appeal to investors.

Managing Director Dan Johnson comments: “After climbing three places in as many months, the US continues to attract more and more overseas investors. Florida remains a popular lifestyle choice and with US houses the most affordable they have been in 15 years, the troubled Eurozone just can’t compete with the low price of American real estate. It’s no coincidence that the US is the only country to rise above the four familiar European markets.

As Spain’s reign ends, America’s dominance begins. Indeed, while the industry speculates about the impact of the Euro upon the rest of the world, North America’s rise to first place is exactly the kind of stimulant the US housing market needs

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

Spanish property market over the worst?

December 8, 2011 – 5:20 pm

Property slump over the worst in Spain and Tenerife?

A growing number of experts believe that the Spanish property market is showing tentative signs of recovery following one of the most spectacular housing crashes of all time.

Spanish property sales and prices have plummeted across the country in the past five years, on the back of the global credit crisis, a string of corruption scandals, a chronic oversupply of housing, a string of illegally constructed homes, a weak economy, high unemployment and a record level of foreclosures.

It is estimated that property prices have fallen by up to 70% in some parts of the country since the market peak of late 2006 leaving many people in negative equity and others facing repossession.

Although property prices are unlikely to bounce back anytime soon, some property commentators and professionals feel as though the market is reaching the bottom of the downturn.

Mark Stucklin of Spanish Property  commented: “I am of the opinion that this is about as low as the Spanish property market will go in volume terms. Q4 may well be another record low, but after that I expect the market to bottom out in the course of 2012. This is not to say there will be a strong recovery after that , far from it. But at least the market will have stopped shrinking.”

The latest report Global House Price report from Knight Frank suggests that market in Spain, along with some other struggling European nations, could be  over the worst

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

Retail investment up

November 8, 2011 – 10:46 am

European retail investment up

European retail real estate investment is up 38% quarter on quarter to €6.7 billion with demand for prime retail to remain relatively strong during the last quarter of the year, according to a new report.

The third quarter report from Jones Lang LaSalle says that 2011 year end volumes are likely to exceed €28 billion, up by 35% on last year and significantly above the €12.3 billion recorded in 2009.

It reports that retail real estate investment remained strong throughout the summer, despite the volatile European recovery and economic headwinds that continued to face the sector. Direct investment in retail real estate in Europe during the third quarter of 2011 reached €6.7 billion, up from €4.9 billion in the second quarter of 2011 and significantly up on the €3.8 billion transacted in the third quarter of 2010.

Total investment volumes for the year to date now stand at €20.4 billion, up by 45% over the same period last year, almost on a par with total 2010 volumes and far exceeding full year volumes of €12.3 billion in 2009.

Source: Property Wire

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

Spanish commercial sector taking longer to recover

November 4, 2011 – 3:13 pm

Commercial property in Tenerife and Spain taking longer to recover

The Spanish commercial property sector is likely to take longer than 12 months to recover, new research has suggested.

Bloomberg Businessweek reported on data published by Savills, which stressed that a lack of finance coupled with the wider European debt issues will slow the market’s recovery.

According to the firm’s figures, investment in Spanish commercial real estate is now at its lowest level since 2001, with just €1.25 billion (£1.1 billion) in deals concluded in the first nine months of this year.

This represents a 52 per cent drop over the same period in 2010, with the news provider noting that a lack of funding from Spanish banks is deterring investors.

Source: PropertyShowrooms.com

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

Euribor rate falls again.

October 17, 2011 – 12:31 pm

Euribor rate falls again affecting property sales in Tenerife

Euribor (12 months), the interest rate normally used to calculate mortgage repayments in Spain, fell for the second month in a row to 2.067pc in September, a percentage fall of -1.4pc on the previous month.

The rise of Euribor seems to have topped out, at least for the time being. With markets still fretting about a European debt crisis, expectations of rising interest rates have fallen, taking the heat off Euribor rates. The European Central Bank has said it has no plans to raise (or cut) the base-rate any further. It now stands at 1.5pc.

The monthly fall will not be much comfort for those with an annually resetting mortgage. Euribor is now 45.6pc higher than it was 12 months ago, meaning repayments on the average mortgage will rise by 480 Euros/year.  It was way too low between 2002 and 2006, sparking off an insane boom in Spanish real estate. It rose in 2007-2008 as other European economies and inflation started to grow too fast , but was slashed in 2009 to head of a depression. It made a feeble attempt to rise again this year, but that has run out of steam with the economy. It is now back around 2pc – way below what it should be in normal times.

But right now the problem is not so much the Euribor rate, which is historically low,  it is that banks don’t seem to want to lend at any rate, starving the housing market of credit without which it cannot recover.

New mortgage lending fell 47pc in July (to 29,523) compared to the same month last year, the lowest level recorded since this data series started in 2003.

The average residential mortgage value was €110,604, 9pc down on last year. All of which means less money around to fuel demand for Spanish property, putting further downward pressure on prices.

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

Europeans most likely to increase property holdings

October 11, 2011 – 8:38 am

Europeans more likely to invest in property overseas

Only 43% of European real estate investors report any increase in risk appetite since early 2011, compared to 46% globally, and 64% in Canada where investors show the biggest uplift in risk appetite, new research shows.

According to the Colliers International 2011 Global Investor Sentiment Survey, which takes the pulse of property investors worldwide, measuring their appetite for risk, optimism, key concerns and sense of market cycles, Europeans are more likely to increase their property holdings.

However, stock remains a concern with 49% reporting the supply of ‘for sale’ property remained a key barrier to expansion and over 54% stating they were focused on core property with target IRRs of five to 10%.

With 57% of investors reporting their risk appetite had not increased since the start of the year, it is not surprising those looking to expand are focused on safe bets, says the report.

Source: Property Wire

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

All time record visits to Spain in August

October 3, 2011 – 1:52 pm

Record numbers of visitors to Spain and Tenerife during August

In August this year 7.64 million foreign tourists visited Spain, an all-time record for the country.

According to reports from FRONTUR, August saw a 9.4 per cent increase in the number of tourists from 2010, indicating a new monthly high for the booming Spanish tourism industry.

Since the beginning of 2011, 40 million tourists have visited Spain, a 7.8 per cent increase over the same period last year. The Ministry of Industry which produces the tourist movement survey suggests that August visitor figures ‘reinforces the good prospects of Spain in 2011′ highlighted by the fourth best year in the history of Spanish tourism, a great achievement considering the economic recovery only began back in the second half of 2010.

Further data indicates that while Brits are one of the most regular and indeed loyal visitors to Spanish shores standing at 9.5 million, there has been impressive increases in numbers of other foreign visitors, with a rise in American, German and talian visitors. By destination, Catalonia was the largest recipient of foreign tourists receiving 1.9 million visitors in August, while the Balearic Islands followed closely behind with 1.8 million.

Ignacio Osle, Sales & Marketing Manager of Taylor Wimpey España, comments, “Despite difficult economic conditions across mainland Europe, Spain is one of the most resilient holiday destinations, remaining popular with foreigners whatever the market conditions. Recently, the IMF stated that Spain will be the only country that will experience higher levels of growth next year compared to its European counterparts of France, Italy and Greece.”

The rising number of overseas visitors continues to spell good news for the property industry. Osle adds: “Mallorca is one such destination that has performed better on the property front than its mainland counterparts offering strong rental market potential.”

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

Spain amongst top five destinations when leaving the UK

September 27, 2011 – 8:35 am

Spain andTenerife amongs the top five destinations when leaving the UK

Spain has been named among the top five destinations that people would consider moving to if they were going to leave the UK, new research has found. A survey conducted by Post Office International Payments revealed that the European nation, which was the fourth most popular location named in the poll, was a possible choice for ten per cent of those questioned. The firm also pointed out that it was the highest-placed nation where English is not the first language. One of the top reasons given for buying a property in Spain or elsewhere in the world is the chance to have a better quality of life, while other reasons to move included warmer weather, discovering a new culture and the adventure of emigrating.

Source: PropertyShowrooms.com

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

Euribor down a fraction in August

September 14, 2011 – 9:42 am

Euribor falls a fraction affecting mortgages in Tenerife and Spain

Euribor (12 months), the interest rate normally used to calculate mortgage repayments in Spain, fell a fraction to 2.097pc in August, a percentage fall of -3.9pc on the previous month.

The rise of Euribor seems to have peaked, at least for the time being. With markets fretting about a European debt crisis, expectations of rising interest rates have fallen, taking the heat off Euribor rates.

On an annualised basis, however, Euribor is still 48pc higher than it was a year ago, meaning higher monthly repayments for borrowers with variable-rate mortgages.

Repayments for a typical mortgage (150,000 Euros, 25 years) will go up by around 48 Euros /month, or 582 Euros / year, bad news for many a stretched household budget in Spain.

New mortgage lending collapsed 42pc in June (to 32,680 new mortgage approvals) compared to a year before, the 14th consecutive month of annualised falls, and one of the lowest levels on record.

The average new mortgage value signed in June was 109,431 Euros, down 8pc compared to June last year, with an average interest rate of 4.12pc, up 4.8pc on last year.

All of which means less money around to fuel demand for Spanish property, putting further downward pressure on prices.

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