More than ten reasons to buy Spanish property NOW

Good reasons for buying property in Spain right NOW

Background:

The number of house sales in Spain increased 15.5% in February 2015  compared with the same month in 2014 – the largest rise in recent months – according to data released by the National Statistics Institute (INE) early this year

Property sales have now increased for six consecutive months as the market gradually begins to recover from the huge crash that hit when Spain’s housing bubble burst at the end of 2007. The rise can be attributed exclusively to a 50.4% increase in sales of existing homes – 21,613 of the 29,714 transactions carried out in February were of this sort.

The figures correspond to sales entered into property registries relating to contracts signed in previous months.

In terms of the number of sales per 100,000 inhabitants, the biggest rises in February were seen in the regions of Valencia (105) and Madrid (96), while Andalusia continues to lead the way in total sales with 6,149 transactions, followed by Madrid (4,834), Catalonia (4,558) and Valencia (4,132).

Source: National Statisctics Institute (INE)

The number of properties sold by 31st August 2015 continues to recover. During the second quarter of 2015, the price of properties increased 5.1% in comparison with last year, according to the data published by the Spanish Land Registry college.

According to the same source, the raise of property prices happened together with the increase of number of houses sold with  11%. Between April and June 2015, the land registries registered a total of 87.187 property transactions

The ranking is as follows: Andalucía, 17.751 properties sold,,followed by Cataluña (13.228)  and Valencia community (12.760)

Source: the land registrar Association

What will happen with the Spanish real estate market during 2015 and 2017?

According to the Agency Standard and Poor’s (S&P), the Price of Spanish houses will rise around 2.5% this year and it will continue to rise up to 4% in 2017, affected by the economy improvement and the low interest rates from Banks.

If this evolution is confirmed, the property prices in Spain will start to rise again after years of descending generated by the great economic recession in 2007.

According to the same source, many of the property transactions, specially in Andalucia and Valencia Community, generating the continue recovering of prices were caused by foreign buyers, specially from Uk.

Source: 5 días (Economy newspaper)

Spanish house prices have risen at the fastest rate since the start of the country’s financial crisis, fuelled by a broader economic recovery and increased availability of credit.The housing price index rose 1.8 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2014 compared with a year earlier — the sharpest quarterly rise since the first three months of 2008, according to Spain’s National Statistics Institute.  

Source: Financial Times

Spanish house prices have increased at their fastest rate since the downturn, up 5.12% in the 12 months to the end of June, the latest index report shows.

It points out that sellers and buyers are adjusting their expectations accordingly. In more and more areas buyers who have been adopting a wait and see attitude whilst prices fell are now entering the market.

Registrars are not expecting prices to surge but the report does suggest the recovery is well underway, supported by factors such as low interest rates, improved housing affordability, better mortgage conditions, and a sustained foreign demand for property in Spain.

They expect moderate price growth and the report points out that a sudden surge would be unhealthy for the market. 'Now more than ever rational decision making is needed to avoid the errors of the past, which came at such a high cost to the economy and society,' the report says.

The regional aspects of the market can also be seen in the latest price data from real estate portal Hogaria which shows that overall prices on its lists increased by 0.15% in July compared to June but year on year prices were down 4%.

But 29 provinces saw prices increase which suggests that the recovery is there and the market is more stable than it has been. The provinces where prices dropped most in July were Toledo with a fall of 1%, Guadalajara down 0.9%, Lugo down 0.8%, Ciudad Real down 0.7% and Almeri down 0.6%.

Cuenca led the growth with a price rise of 1.2%, followed by Sta. Cruz de Tenerife at 1%, Valencia also at 1%, Madrid at 0.9% and Cádiz also at 0.9%.

We could make more references to many articles and may statistics sources. You may google the same subject in some other financial papers, not only printed in Spain but also internationally. They will confirm the above information.

Apart from the above information, let’s talk about the reasons why buying Spanish property NOW.

1.There are still thousands opportunities to purchase properties at a low price, with a reduction of 50% from the original price when they were in the market during the property boom, before 2007.

2. Banks are back in the property market scenario with an aggressive and attractive offer for mortgages: better interest rates and flexible and improved mortgage conditions. They are also forced to sell their own properties acquired from debtors during the great recession.
According to many official sources i.e. the Spanish Statistics Institute, the land registries association and data provided by the Spanish regional communities, the prices of houses will continue rising due to various facts, i.e. the international market demand, the improvement of mortgages conditions and the general recover of the European economy as well as the demand from citizens from other countries outside the Euro zone.

3.Another important reason is the location. Some years ago, we know that there was a massive construction of holiday’s homes in other countries, including Syria, Greece, Turkey, Egypt and so on.They were not only acceptable places to invest but also destinations for European tourists. Spain was seriously competing with many other destinations. You could see this when you walked into the properties exhibitions, so popular about a decade ago.However, all the international conflicts together with the economy crash affecting also those countries as well as Spain and the lack of security in many ways have brought the consequence to leave Spain as one of the preferred destination for the tourism back again.

4. Malaga Airport (AGP) has shown a record of visitors this year, after its extension and improvement carried out over the last few years, becoming the 3rd International Airport in Spain and 22^nd within the EU.

We cannot forget the fact that number of flights from different airports in Europe and out of Europe is also increasing with daily flights from all over the world, including the Emirates with two daily flights to Madrid and Barcelona.

6. From our point of view is also relevant the fact that Spain is closer in many ways. If you live in London,  you may come to Spain just for the weekend and it would take the same timeto drive to the country side within the UK territor in many occasions. Should you have a place in Dubai or…other fashionable country, would you go there for a weekend?

7.The weather!!! No comments are necessary about this subject. If you are familiar with Spain, especially Andalucia, you will know exactly what we are talking about. Even when we consider a few days a year as “not nice”, people coming from North Europe are thrilled about our climate, including months like November, December, January, February…. Probably this is the reason why our location is known as “Costa del Sol”. It is also the base for our property industry.

8. The variety of things to do all over the year. It is not only an escape to the beach or to the country. Spain offers many other possibilities and opportunities. Let’s think about the Costa del Sol again. If you come during the winter, you can be skiing in just two hours driving, come back in the same day and enjoy a beautiful and warm evening.

You can visit many places just for the day, i.e. Seville, Granada, Córdoba, Ronda… if you like our History with our past, including all our visitors who left such a legacy, including the great inheritance from the Arabs who stayed officiall here y from 711 to 1492.

9. If you are thinking about living in Spain permanently you may also be interested to know how many English and International Schools are based here, with many years of experience and good results for kids, with access to Universities all over the world.

9. If you like sports, in how many places you can play golf, tennis, perform any sport activity, train yourself in the outside or just going for a walk along the beach during all the seasons?

10. Another reason that it is important to many of us is Health. Public and private health in Spain is considered to be one of the best on an international basis. The demand of Spanish doctors is increasing due to the level of knowledge and experience. For example, Marbella has also become well known for the plastic surgery expertise.

11. As an investment or more. It is also important to know that the demand for renting houses is incresing for those who are thinking about an investment. Really relevant, if you would like to obain a GOLDEN VISA via buying a property. We will dedicate an article about this subject.

12 Ultimately, we should highlight the importance of the lifestyle in Spain:How important the light is in our livesThe living costs are still lower than in the rest of north European countriesThe friendly welcome to our international community. This is something that will be impossible to change and it goes naturally with most people from South Spain.

The quality of drinks and food still good and relatively cheap. Please watch Jaime Oliver show in Southern Spain.

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Thanks for your interest in Spain