With so much takeover action in the Spanish property market, a slowdown in spending is not the end of the world.
There have been many articles in the press recently on takeovers and if you were thinking about buying in Spain this should help boost your confidence.

This from business times
16 February 2008

LONDON — Inmobiliaria Colonial SA gained as much as 13 per cent in Madrid trading on speculation Investment Corp. of Dubai will present a takeover offer for the Spanish property company.

The shares added as much as 22 cents to 1.94 euros and traded at 1.84 euros, up 7 per cent, as of 11:09 a.m. in Madrid. The stock has slumped 66 per cent in 12 months.

“There’s a lot of unconfirmed speculation in the market that other funds may be interested and that could push the Dubai fund into making an offer,” said Francisco Salvador, a director at Venture Finanzas SA in Madrid.

Negocio reported that a group led by Juan Villalonga, a former Telefonica SA chairman, gained 400 million euros ($586 million) in backing from a Taiwanese fund for a possible bid for Barcelona-based Colonial. The newspaper didn’t say who provided the information.

Colonial said Jan. 31 it was approached by the Investment Corp. of Dubai about a possible bid. Nozar SA, Colonial’s second-largest shareholder, said February 7 that it may agree by February 21 to sell its stake to the Dubai investors.

Investment Corp. of Dubai is expected to make an offer for Colonial on Feb. 21, El Pais reported yesterday in its property supplement, citing no one

Tags: spanish, property

If you’ve read recent press articles you’ll know there is now an oversupply of houses in the Spanish market.
So given that and the tightening in credit restrictions, why is it that house prices have not fallen ?

This from propertydispatches:

Prices of similar properties in the US have fallen hard and quickly, but not in Spain.

As one person comments in the forum, “I’ve been looking at buying a property in the Canary’s now for over 12 months now and have not witnessed any crash. Developers still want the original price for properties “no room for negotiation”. Private sellers are refusing to drop the price on properties that have been on the market for some time, and estate agents continue to put properties on the market based on the values apportioned to properties that are not selling.” So if the market is so bad, why aren’t prices tumbling?

These are the reasons that I can come up with:

First of all, foreclosures in Spain take a long time. It appears that many mortgage lenders take a year or more to respond to mortgage delinquencies, after which the repossession process can add on another 6 months or more. This delays the time it takes for repossessions to come on to the market, so a slump in the market does not translate quickly into distressed prices.

Tags: house, spain

UPDATE: Spain Min Sees Debate On ECB Reaction To Financial Crisis

Spanish minister comments on the effect of the sub prime turmoil

MADRID -(Dow Jones)- Spanish Finance Minister Pedro Solbes Thursday said he sees a debate forming in the euro zone over whether the European Central Bank should react to counter the economic impact of financial market turmoil.

“There is a debate over whether monetary policy should respond to the financial turmoil we are seeing,” Solbes said at a meeting with journalists and business leaders.

While the U.S. Federal Reserve has aggressively moved to lower interest rates to stimulate economic activity in the face of the subrprime mortgage crisis, the ECB has kept its interest rates on hold.

Solbes also said Spanish banks have an “enviously” healthy position in the liquidity crunch precipitated by the subprime mortgage crisis and that their use of the ECB’s liquidity facilities is porportional to Spain’s weight in the euro-zone economy.

The finance minister said the international financial crisis is having a larger impact on the Spanish economy than he had originally forecast. Nonetheless, the Spanish economy grew at around 3.8% in 2007, according to an estimate published earlier Thursday by the National Statistics Instititute.

Tags: spain, sub prime, property

The beaches in Almería have been nominated the best in Spain, making it the perfect place to buy a holiday home.
From the Kyero blog:

Property owners in Carboneras, Almería, can look forward to a bustling tourist season this summer, as Los Muertos, the municipal beach, has been classified as the ‘Best Beach in Spain’ by the Institute for Quality Tourism in Spain.

Carboneras sits at the start of the Cabo de Gata Natural Park, and though it boasts a number of historical monuments, including the 16th century San Andrés Castle, the town is best known for its beaches. Almost 17km of fine sand stretches along its coast, including the central El Ancón, which receives the blue EEC flag award annually.

However, the most beautiful of these is the nudist beach Los Muertos, which can only be reached by boat or via a 1km hike through the natural park.

Los Muertos was presented with one of the Q certificates for quality tourism during a ceremony forming part of the activities of the International Exhibition for Tourism (FITUR), held annually in Madrid. The secluded beach is also rated one of the top five in the world for its crystal-clear water and peaceful sands, where you can relax with little fear of being undisturbed.

Tags: spain, beaches