Serious vendors dropping prices to ensure a sale.

July 25, 2010 – 2:25 pm

Serious sellers in Tenerife and Spain drop prices to ensure the saleA growing number of vendors trying to sell their homes are dropping their asking prices, according to new research by one of Spain’s leading property portals. Asking prices for 18,007 resale properties in the Idealista database were reduced in June, 30% more than same time last year, and the highest level for 2 years. The number of price reductions has been on the rise every month since January, causing the 12-month average trend to rise after falling for about a year. But if the number of discounted properties is growing, the average discount value is not. Discount values peaked at the beginning of last year and have been declining ever since, so it’s a story of more, but smaller discounts.

The markets where the biggest proportion of vendors decided to drop prices were Madrid (9.3%) and Barcelona (7.4%). That means vendors in Spain’s two biggest markets are becoming more focused on finding a buyer.

- Asking prices were down just 0.5% in Q1 over Q2, to 2,374 €/m2.
- Prices rose in 5 regions: The Balearics (+2,4%) Galicia (+1,6%), Castilla y León (+1%), The Basque Country (+0,9%) y La Rioja (+0,6%).
- Prices rose just by 2 €/m2 in Barcelona, to 4,084 €/m2. Even so, prices there are still below where they were 5 years ago in Q1 2005. They are down 16.4% from the peak of 4,888 €/m2 in Q1 2007.
- Madrid fell 0.4% in Q1, to 3,831 €/m2, 11.2% below the peak of 4,315 €/m2 in Q2 2007.
- Valencia fell 0.7% to 2,335 €/m2, 18.4% below the Q2 2007 peak of 2,861 €/m2

Sellers in Tenerife and the Canary Isles are  also following this trend to ensure a quick sale.

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

Optimism for Spanish and Canarian property market.

May 30, 2010 – 10:41 am

Optimism returns to Tenerife and Spain's property market

Optimism returns to Tenerife and Spain's property market

The price of re-sale property in Spain and the Canary Islands increased in January for the first time in 24 months, according to   figures and other reports suggest there are tentative signs that part of the country’s battered real estate market is coming back to life.

Prices rose by 0.6% on average, with the regions of Cataluña, and La Rioja seeing the greatest recovery in price at 4.6% and 4.5%, according to figures from the real estate portal fotocasa.es.
 
Property prices also rose in the regions of Comunidad Valenciana, up 2,2%, Asturias up2%, Baleares with a 1,9% increase, Aragón up 1,4%, Galicia up 0,9% and Madrid up 0,7%.

While another index shows that overall Spanish property prices fell by 5.5% over the 12 months to the end of January. However, these figures from appraisal company Tinsa  are based on their valuations, not on actual selling prices. Activity in the real estate market is still very depressed.

The latest figures from the National Institute of Statistics shows that year on year the market shrank by 27% in volume terms to 372,000 transactions in 2009. They have fallen 48% since 2007 when there were 715,000 sales.

December 2009 had just 28,669 home sales, the second lowest level of monthly sales on record. But compared to December last year, sales were down just 1%. ‘That’s because by December last year, the market was already deep in crisis.

From now on, annualised comparisons won’t look so bad, and won’t give any indication how far the market has fallen,’ explained Spanish Property Insight.

‘When the market hit the skids, resale transactions collapsed much quicker than new builds, which outnumbered re-sales throughout 2009. In normal market conditions, it’s the other way around. As 2009 went by the two started to converge, and in 2010 re-sales may once again overtake new builds, though it does depends on whether banks are prepared to lend to resale buyers,’ he added.

Whilst there’s little doubt that life is returning to the Spanish property market, it still remains utterly price sensitive, according to Chris Mercer, director of Mercers real estate agents.  ‘We are making it our business to find realistically priced property from motivated sellers for serious buyers who are in a genuine position to make a purchase. The reality is that decent investment properties are out there, whatever the market, it just takes some expertise and effort to find them.’

If your property is overpriced you won’t sell and you’re wasting your own time and our time, whilst also giving the buyer an unrealistic view of the market. If you’re a motivated seller able to accept a realistic price for your home, we’ll find a buyer.

He also believes that for investors renting to local people can prove fruitful. ‘If you’ve got a 20% deposit then the rent will comfortably pay the mortgage and as you’re truly buying at the bottom of the market, you have an asset that will certainly appreciate in years to come.

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

Spanish property market grows once more.

May 16, 2010 – 11:17 am

Spanish and Canarian property on the risw once more.

Spanish and Canarian property on the rise once more.

The Spanish property market grew by 16% in February compared to the same month last year, according to the latest figures to be published by the country’s National Institute of Statistics
Not including social housing, there were 35,720 home sales in February, 21,368 of them newly built and 19,665 resales. 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.
 
An examination of the figures shows that 79% of the increase in transactions came from just two regions. Catalonia saw a 43% increase and Madrid was up 36% while the market continued to shrink or stagnate in many coastal areas popular with foreign buyers. Malaga and Alicante saw year on year increases of 3% and 3.8% respectively and Andalucia saw a 7% rise. Granada and Cadiz were both up 14% and Valencia saw 23% growth.
 
Local figures suggest that Marbella is leading the way to recovery with figures from the town’s tax office revealing that 2,499 properties were sold in the first three months of this year, a rise of more than 200% compared to the same period in 2009 when just 820 properties were sold and the highest for four years.
 
Meanwhile, 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.
 
Since the peaks of December 2007, prices are down 16.2% nationally, 22.5% on the Mediterranean coast, and 13.6% in the Canaries and the Balearics. But there are no signs of foreign property buyers returning to the Spanish market. The latest figures from the Bank of S;pain show that the amount of money invested by foreigners in Spanish property has fellen to its lowest level for 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.  But 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.
By Angela | Posted in Economy, General, Health, Holiday, Inspirational, Miscellaneous Articles, Property, Tenerife, Things to Do, Uncategorized, Weather | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Linekers dash from Tenerife to Match of The Day

April 18, 2010 – 4:49 pm

From Tenerife to Match of the day

From Tenerife to Match of the day

It took nearly 24 hours and involved planes, trains and 12-and-a-half hours of solid driving, but in an amazing dash across Europe, Gary Lineker made it home from Tenerife last night to present Match Of The Day despite the volcanic ash cloud that has grounded all flights to England.

  His epic 2,058-mile journey began on Friday and after a marathon drive, spurred on by his children singing choruses of Who Let The Dogs Out, a bleary-eyed Lineker arrived at BBC headquarters at around 7pm yesterday, after 36 hours without sleep.

 

 

 

Last night he said: ‘It’s something we’d never want to do again but at the same time, it was an adventure and has probably given us all a perverse sense of achievement. It reminded me of my football days – once you’ve got a target and put your mind to it, nothing stands in your way. We weren’t going to be dictated to by a volcano!’With all flights back to London cancelled, Gary and his wife Danielle, 30, had hired a people carrier after flying the 1,135 miles to Madrid.
They set off at midnight on a seven-hour drive to Bordeaux in France with Gary’s four sons George, 18, Harry, 17, Tobias, 14, Alex, 12, and Danielle’s daughter Ella, eight. They had hoped to catch a train there but found all tickets sold out, so had to drive on another 361 miles to Paris, taking five-and-a-half hours.
  
Gary said: ‘It’s the first time I’ve done a show having missed watching all the games in the afternoon – but the important thing is I made it‘It was like one of those impossible challenges they have on Top Gear, but Danielle, my four boys and Ella all kept each other going. Whenever we felt like flagging, the boys would burst into another chorus of Who Let The Dogs Out with lots and lots and lots of very loud barking. Another favourite was Don’t Stop Me Now by Queen, which was pretty appropriate. I didn’t have much chance to shut my eyes properly before the show – but I am going to sleep for England on Sunday.’On the way the children had a French lesson from Danielle. Gary said: ‘We all had different reasons to get back. Match of the Day, going to school, Danielle had a photoshoot, so we thought we’d give it a go. The toughest part was putting up with the smell of Harry’s and Tobias’s stinking trainers. We were quite worried driving through Basque country. There were a number of roadblocks set up for random searches because of the situation with ETA and we were worried what the police might think the smell was if they pulled us over.’
 The Linekers dropped off the car, planning to catch the Eurostar, but had to wait at the Gare du Nord until there was a train with available seats. English tourists, who had heard Gary was stuck abroad, spotted him waiting and couldn’t believe he was getting back for Match Of The Day. Finally the family boarded the 4.45pm train to London, arriving at St Pancras in time for Gary, 49, to jump into a car to the studio at Shepherd’s Bush.

Danielle said: ‘We took pictures of each other on the journey. We look pretty exhausted in most – and weren’t faking.

We were all slightly delirious by the end. We were speaking a mixture of Spanish and French for fun.  I hope it’s not apparent in Gary’s performance on Match Of The Day.

 

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1266849/Gary-Lineker-makes-epic-2-058-mile-trek-Match-Day.html#ixzz0lRcbULRK

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

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

Prime Minister of Spain defends country’s solvency.

April 14, 2010 – 1:15 pm

Spain's Prime Minister defends solvency

Spain's Prime Minister defends solvency

Spain Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero has passionately defended his country’s solvency. With Greece struggling to contain a debt crisis, some investors have fretted that the problems could spread to Spain.

“Spain has a big plus. It is, as a country, very solvent,” he told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, adding: “We have a plan for the reduction of the deficit within three years.” Asked if the Spanish economy would flounder, together with the euro, Zapatero replied: “No. The euro will retain its vitality. We are still in the biggest crisis since the Great Depression and in a phase during which confidence in us and the euro is being tested. But we will pass this examination.”

Turning to the possibility of Greece, or other euro zone states such as Spain, being rescued, Zapatero added: “If one has to intervene, then I think that has to be done together, within the institutions of the EU. We should have confidence in the Greek government and in the requests the (European) Union has made of it,” he said.

Some argue that as a socialist, Mr. Zapatero is in a better position to tackle reform than are the conservatives. He could say that “the current system is socially divisive” and “mainly penalizes the young, women and immigrants,” said Charles Powell, a history professor at CEU San Pablo University in Madrid.

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

Upturn in Spanish housing sales.

April 10, 2010 – 10:43 am

Upturn in Spanish property market

Upturn in Spanish property market

There was a small upturn in Spanish housing sales during the fourth quarter of last year, according to recent data released by the Spanish Ministry of Housing.

The increase was small, but enough for the Government to get excited about: “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″.

In fact, if you just look at the ordinary housing market, the upturn was even better. Excluding social housing there were 116,664 house sales in Q4, a rise of 5.5%. Regrettably, that’s where the good news ends.

Take the year as a whole, there 413,112 transactions last year, a fall of 19% compared to the previous year, and a whopping 46% down on 2007. Even the Q4 was down 33% compared to 2 years ago.

Some regions did better than others. Looking at a selection of regions popular with holiday home buyers, the inland province of Teruel suffered the most in 2009, down 36%, followed by Las Palmas in The Canaries, down 32%. At the other end of the scale, Spain’s two big cities did the best, down just 1.7% in Madrid and 3.9% in Barcelona.

The small national upturn in Q4 that got the Ministry excited was almost entirely driven by big increases in Catalonia and Madrid (Barcelona +35%, Madrid +41%). Why the big surge in home sales in those two cities in the last quarter of 2009? I don’t know. But I wouldn’t be surprised if it had more to do with banks shifting Spanish property around their balance sheets than families buying homes to live in.

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

Still pain in Spain

October 23, 2009 – 9:42 am

images2

The pain in Spain's property market continues, although some areas including Tenerife are fairing better.

Data  shows that resale Spain property values dropped at a slower pace of decline in Q2, compared to the preceding quarter.
Resale Spanish home values fell by 12.5% in the first quarter of 2009, but slowed to a decline of 11.2% in the second quarter.

The index also claim that Spanish areas traditionally popular with foreign investors, such as Tenerife, Andalucia and Murcia, are holding up well. But areas such as Madrid, Catalonia, and the Basque Country, where values appreciated the most during the boom years, experienced that largest price declines.

Despite the government data, some people  are dubious of the figures and advise caution stating that new-build Spain property prices have fallen by far more than the report suggests.

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

Affluence in Madrid

September 25, 2009 – 8:56 am

Will Tenerife be in affluent Madrid's planning of theme parks?

Will Tenerife be in affluent Real Madrid's planning of theme parks?

Not content with spending £226 million on players over the summer, Real Madrid is now planning to build theme parks.Club president Florentino Perez, a construction magnate, is considering a £135 million park about the La Liga club near its training grounds at Valdebebas, north of Madrid. He claims the park would ‘reflect our history, legend and values.’ 

Filled with rides and restaurants and a multi-functional amphitheatre for concerts and corporate events, the 60-hectare park located near to Madrid Barajas airport would be a huge draw for tourists and locals alike.

Spain is already well known for its theme parks, boasting 146 in total, and Madrid is already recognised as a football destination.

Thanks to ‘Brand Beckham’ descending on the city six years ago and recent addition Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid has already secured its reputation as a legendary club. This marketing ploy will increase its visibility on the world stage and its position as the biggest earning club in the world. Perez isn’t stopping in Spain - he announced at the club’s general assembly this week that he is in talks about plans to build further theme parks in Beijing and Miami. It would, I think be more appropriate in nearby Tenerife.

The football club’s president said: ‘They will become the focus for the legions of Real Madrid fans in the powerful and heavily populated countries of the United States and China.’

Perez, who has overseen a 150 per cent income increase since he took the president role five years ago, hopes up to two million people would visit the Madrid park each year.

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

Different idea in Spain to attract customers

September 10, 2009 – 4:48 pm

Different ideas to attract custom

Different ideas to attract custom

A Spanish restaurateur, fearing a drop in business due to swine flu, is seeking to pull in customers by offering a sanitised — and hopefully virus-free — environment.

 

 

 

 Miguel Angel de la Cruz, manager of the Mesa y Placer (Table and Pleasure) eatery in Madrid, said he was forced to act ahead of a feared ’second wave’ of swine flu this northern autumn, which is “more dangerous to business than the economic crisis”.

“We are facing a very difficult autumn. We have therefore had to try and anticipate the impact of the H1N1 flu which has completely paralysed the sector in Mexico,” said de la Cruz.

So, instead of a free aperitif, his customers receive disinfectant hand gel and a sanitised napkin before reading menus that are covered in plastic to reduce the risk of contamination.

The meals are prepared by chefs wearing surgical face masks, and all staff must have their body temperatures checked before starting work to ensure they do not have the flu.

De la Cruz said another Madrid restaurant in the same group, Plato y Placer, in a more touristy district of the city, has introduced the same measures.

There, “the Japanese, who are very careful about hygiene, make up a large part of the clientele. They are coming less, but with these measures we hope they will return”, he said.

It was unclear how effective the antiseptically clean ambience would be in combating swine flu, which has killed at least 21 people in Spain since it arrived in Europe in April, nor whether they would attract custom.

Spain’s health ministry has not yet issued any advice for the restaurant sector, but recommends frequent handwashing and discarding tissues after using them, to combat the virus among the general public.

“An anti-tobacco law would save more lives than a dose of disinfectant gel, but it’s still better than nothing,” said Jose Carlos, a 43-year-old government worker as he ate lunch at Mesa y Placer with a colleague.

A visit to bars in the Plaza Santa Ana, one of the main tourist spots in Madrid’s old town, showed customers continue to use their fingers to eat tapas, tasty Spanish snacks, and drop their used tissues on the floor rather than throwing them away.

“We are not going to stop living or change our habits because of the flu,” said one, Marina, 42.

Hugo Vasquez, a manager of the Naturbier bar and restaurant, said establishments are waiting to “receive the information booklets from the health ministry, because there is a lot of uncertainty.”

He said “sales have not been too affected by the economic crisis because of tourists,” but said swine flu “scares us more than the recession as foreigners are likely to come less often”.

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

Ronaldo house hunting

July 29, 2009 – 9:04 am

Please let me find a property in Spain!

Please let me find a property in Spain!

Retiring Britons aren’t the only expats looking for a place to live in Spain and Tenerife. Football star Cristiano Ronaldo is house hunting in Madrid following his transfer to Real Madrid from Man. United, no doubt with a hefty budget thanks to his record-breaking £80million transfer fee.

There has been much speculation in the Spanish press as to where Ronaldo would choose to live. Many expected him to buy a luxury villa in one of Madrid’s high end residential suburbs like La Moraleja or La Finca, following in the footsteps of other ‘Galacticos’ or megastars from the Real Madrid team. Beckham, for example, bought a villa in La Moraleja for £4.5m in May 2005, and is reported to have spent another £500,000 doing it up.
But it appears that Ronaldo has decided against buying, and has opted to rent a swanky city-centre apartment instead. The Spanish press reports he is looking for a 500m2 penthouse bang in the centre, fully furnished, with at least 5 en suite bathrooms, a large terrace, and a pool. Football stars tend to move on sooner or later, and by renting Ronaldo might be keen to avoid the fate of the Beckhams, who just can’t flog their villa in Madrid. After around 2 years on the market they are reported to have dropped their asking price from £5m to £3m, but still no takers.

By Angela | Posted in Economy, General, Miscellaneous Articles, Property, Sports Desk, Things to Do, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (1)