High end Spanish property performing well

January 31, 2012 – 9:45 am

High end property in Tenerife and Spain performing well

Despite tough market conditions for property in Spain, one company has posted its most successful operational year to date in 2011, showing the appetite for high-end Spanish real estate has not waned.

2011 saw Lucas Fox doubling its staff, opening new offices and posting record-breaking third quarter profits of 19.5 Million euros, proof of the continued appeal of Spain among the cash rich. Among the most popular areas for investment were Barcelona, the Costa Brava and Mallorca where investors snapped up boutique and luxury pads.

Aimar Valls, Head of Commercial & Investment Property commented, “In the last year we have received a dramatic rise in both the quantity and quality of enquiries for commercial and investment property. Central Barcelona is a hot-spot for hotels, hotel projects and buildings with potential for tourist apartment rentals.

And the company is also optimistic about their fortunes in 2012. Director Alex Vaughan explains, “Our transaction pipeline is already looking strong and the outlook for the year is very encouraging. We start 2012 with over 5,000 active property buyers registered from Northern and Eastern Europe, Russia, Scandinavia, the Middle East, the U.S and China.”

Source: APlaceintheSun.com

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

Second increase in CGT for non resident property owners in Spain

January 5, 2012 – 4:56 pm

Spain and Tenerife property owners hit by CGT rise.

A second increase in the Capital Gains Tax (CGT) levied on non-residents by the Spanish Tax Office has just been announced.

From January the 1st 2012 CGT for non-resident property owners in Spain will stand at 21% across the board. This follows a previous rise in 2010 from 18% to 19%.   In 2007 the European Union put pressure on Spain to lower the then CGT rate of 35% for non residents (15% for residents) to 18%  deeming it to be an unfair penalty on non-residents. A rise of 1% in 2010 passed relatively unnoticed but a  trend towards accelerating tax increases to boost the dwindling economy.  

Spanish Residents will also feel the increase with figures rising to 21% up to 6000 Euros , 25% between 6001 Euros and 24000 Euros and 27% on higher figures.

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

Good news from the Spanish property market

October 18, 2011 – 8:58 am

Propert sales improve in Spain and Tenerife especially prime property by the coast

At last some good news from the Spanish property market , foreign investment is up strongly on last year. Foreigners invested 1.3 billion Euros in Q2 this year, up 16pc on the first quarter and 37pc on the same time last year, according to figures from the Bank of Spain.

Foreign investment is still some way (32pc) from the peak it reached in Q2 2003, when it hit 1.9 billion Euros, but there has been a clear improvement in the last 2 quarters.  Sales to foreigners have picked up as prices fall, showing how price-sensitive foreign demand for Spanish holiday homes is.

Certainly prime property on or near the coast in Tenerife is attracting greater interest once more.

By Angela | Posted in Economy, General, Health, Holiday, Inspirational, 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)

VAt on new homes slashed

September 29, 2011 – 9:51 am

Vat slashed on Tenerife and Spanish homes

VAT on new homes will be slashed from 8pc to 4pc for the rest of the year, José Blanco, Minister of Public Works and Housing announced this week.

The VAT reduction will only apply to sales of new homes that take place before 1 January 2012. Someone buying a new home for 200,000 Euros before the end of the year from a bank or developer will pay 8,000 Euros less in VAT.

Resale properties will not benefit because they do not incur VAT. Anyone buying a resale from a private vendor will continue to pay a transfer tax of 8pc, rather than VAT at 4pc.

However, at least one savings bank – Catalunya Caixa – has announced that it will also offer a 4pc discount on all its resales (repossessed homes) between now and the end of the year. Others banks are expected to follow suit.

The Government’s stated objectives with this latest measure are to help reduce the stock of new homes for sale, giving the construction sector a boost and stimulating employment.

According to José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero – the Prime Minister  said “if it wasn’t for the construction sector, the Spanish economy would be growing at 2pc. All the jobs lost today are in construction.”

Elena Salgado, Minister of Finance, said the reduction in VAT will be “sufficient to reduce the stock of homes.”

As recently as July last year, the Government increased VAT on new homes from 7pc to 8pc in an attempt to increase revenues and reduce the budget deficit. This is a U-turn that hardly covers the Government in glory.

If the fall in VAT does anything to stimulate the market it will only benefit those with new homes for sale, principally developers. As a result, private vendors will find themselves under further pressure to reduce their asking prices.

The opposition Popular Party has promised to extend the rebate for an extra year if it wins the general election in November.

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

Housing market shrinks again

August 21, 2011 – 5:28 pm

Housing market shrinks again

Home sales in June were the lowest since the property crash began, show the latest figures from the Statistics Institute (INE).
There were 24,699 home sales in June (excluding social housing), down 26pc on the same time last year,  even June 2009, when the crash was thought to be at its nadir.  It is clear that, after a deceptively promising start, 2011  is turning out to be the worst year yet.
Compared to June 2007, sales were down 60pc – a teeth-jarring fall by any measure.
Year-to-date, transactions are down 11pc compared to last year, 3pc compared to 2009, and 55pc compared to 2007.
Assuming that prices have fallen by an average of 30pc since 2007, then in value terms (Euros) the market has shrunk by 70pc since then. That means 70pc less money around for everyone who lived off the housing market, town halls in particular.
All this helps explain why many town halls are now in the jaws of a financial crisis: They ramped up their spending and overheads during the boom, assuming it would last for ever, but now the money has dried up and they can’t afford to pay their bills. A 70pc fall in revenues from real estate helps explain why.
Why are transactions still falling? Partly because the credit crunch is still in full swing – in Spain at least – and partly because the abolition of mortgage tax relief at the end of last year brought forward sales that might otherwise have taken place in the first half of this year. So the figures might make the market look worse than it actually is. To find out we will have to wait and see if there is a recovery in the second half of the year, let’s hope it improves in Tenerife too.
By Angela | Posted in Economy, General, Holiday, Inspirational, Miscellaneous Articles, Property, Tenerife, Things to Do | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Sellers asking less for their homes at the cheaper end of the market

July 18, 2011 – 9:02 am

The number of vendors asking less for their homes leapt to 30,646 in May, 7% of all vendors and an increase of 73pc on last year. They reduced asking prices by an average of 8.2pc in a year.

So far this year 134,107 vendors have dropped their asking prices, 69pc more than last year and 31pc of the total.

In total, vendors are now asking 700 million Euros less in a month, 3.2 billion less this year, and 6.4 billion less in the last 12 months. That is potentially a huge transfer of wealth from vendors to buyers.

The biggest number of vendors asking less was at the cheaper end of the market, with 8.3pc of vendors with asking prices below €200,000 dropping their prices, compared to 6.5pc of vendors asking more than €600,000.

In value terms, however, prices at the cheaper end fell by an average of 8.6pc compared to 9.3pc for more expensive homes. This is the time to visit a reputable estate agent and look for that bargain in Tenerife, whether it is a cheaper property or a prime property.

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

Euribor rate falls a fraction in June

July 5, 2011 – 10:00 am

Euribor rate falls . Properties in Tenerife and Spain will cost more if mortgage rates are set now

Euribor (12 months), the interest rate normally used to calculate mortgage repayments in Spain, fell a fraction to 2.144pc in June, a percentage change of just -0.1pc on the previous month.

On an annualised basis, Euribor is now 67pc higher than it was a year ago, meaning higher monthly repayments for borrowers with mortgages resetting now.

Repayments for a typical mortgage (150,000 Euros, 25 years) will go up by around 61 Euros /month, or 741 Euros / year. That will punish many a stretched household budget in Spain.

In other mortgage news, new mortgage registrations dived an astonishing 38pc YOY in April to 31,358,, according to the National Institute of Statistics (INE). The average mortgage value fell by 3.8pc. That came on top of a 20pc fall in March. Lending is at all-time lows, which is bad news for the housing market.

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

Property demand in Spain set to soar?

June 13, 2011 – 8:40 am

Property demand set to soar in Tenerife and Spain?

Demand for property in Spain could be set to soar as banks move to sell off billions of euros worth of distressed property assets.

Analysts have estimated that financial institutions in the country control more that €100 billion (£86.7 billion) in real estate, The National reports.

Most are second homes in developments built during a ten-year construction boom targeting the same European buyers.

There are anywhere from 700,000 to a million empty apartments and villas in Spain, the majority of them in coastal areas. Tenerife has its fair share of prime property  again at reasonable prices following the market correction.

Source: PropertyShowrooms.com

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

Less stays in owner properties says IET

June 6, 2011 – 8:43 am

Less owners staying in their own properties in Spain and Tenerife say IET

Visits to Spain by British owners fell by 17pc, whilst visits by German owners were down 11pc, reveals a new report by the government-sponsored Institute of Tourism Studies (IET).

The drop in the number of tourists staying in their own properties was much more pronounced than the fall in the number of hotel bookings, which, in the case of British tourists, were down just 0.6pc last year.

The study also found that British tourists staying in their own holiday-homes spent 55 Euros/day on average, compared to 111 Euros/day average for hotel guests. Spaniards staying in holiday-homes spent an average of 21 Euros/day.

30% of Spaniards stayed in holiday-homes in 2009, compared to just 8.6pc of foreign visitors.

Holiday-lettings also fell in 2010, -13.5pc in the case of British tourists, and 13.4pc in the case of Germans. Bad news for landlords on the coast.

The decline in the number of tourists staying in holiday-homes coupled with the crisis means that “the purchase of a holiday-home is at present far from a priority for the average family,” concludes the report

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