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

Good Deals On Spanish Property

Dian at Kyero has just posted this piece on illegal builds causing many agents to go out of business.

The housing market in Spain is receiving bad press but there are some good deals available if you do your homework.

With an increasing number of illegal builds coming to light, thousands of estate agents going out of business, and lots of properties failing to sell, many investors may be thinking now is not a good time to buy a property in Spain.

However, one of the contributing factors to the property glut is a surplus of newly-built, over-priced apartments and villas on the costas. After a decade of property prices rising at astronomical rates the market is now beginning to steady, but many properties are still being priced unrealistically.

According to an article by Mark Stucklin, in The Sunday Times recently, although the majority of these properties have sea views they have been built in poor locations, and as there is an oversupply of property in these areas at the moment, many of the sellers, who bought these homes off-plan several years ago, are being forced to reduce their asking price. There are so many identical homes for sale the only factor which will differentiate one property from another is the price. Caixa Catalunya, a Spanish Savings bank, has estimated up to 500,000 newly built properties remain unsold.

Although villas are in shorter supply, problems in the market with flats means prices are being pushed down for villas as well.

Andrew Lupton, of Stacks Relocation Spain, was quoted in the article as saying: “Prices for attractive villas in the upmarket enclave around Javea, on the Costa Blanca, are already 20 per cent down.

“You can now get a lovely four-bedroom villa, with a pool, on a plot of 800 square metres for £300,000. A year-and-a-half ago it would have cost you £380,000.”

However, planning approvals for new detached properties are falling considerably faster than for flats, according to new figures from the Spanish Ministry of Development. This could lead to a shortage of villas, which will help strengthen prices in the future.

The article advises buyers to head south for the best bargains. Andalucia has some particularly enticing prices at the moment, with a brand new four-bedroom Penthouse in Nerja, with a roof-top pool and sea views, reduced from £720,000 to £510,000.

The best deals to be had are on the coast, but this is also pushing prices down further inland.

Mark Stucklin, advises potential buyers to try and negotiate a good price. They may be surprised at what they can get for their money, particularly if the owner is looking for a quick sale.

Tags: spain, builds, property

How to Get Ahead Selling Your Spanish Property

We’ve had a strong pound for many years. Now its looks like its on its way down again.
How does this affect your spanish property when you want to sell it?

Good article from Kyero

By admin

The pound has flopped, dropped like a stone and left many Spanish property owners who wish to sell and repatriate their money in a strong negotiating position. How can the economic problems mean good news for those selling property?

Currently the Spanish property market is very slow for Spanish buyers due to higher than usual interest rates, the price of properties versus the average income and the uncertainty surrounding the market. Therefore, if you are a British seller who will be repatriating your money into pounds, now is a great time to cut your price and still get the same amount of pounds out that you would have a month ago at a price 10% higher in Euros. The price cut will have two positive effects for differing buying groups.

The Spanish or European buyer who purchases in Euros and doesn’t have to think about the exchange rate will see your property at a lower price than competing properties being sold by non UK nationals who will not be repatriating their money. This might tempt them to visit and make offers.

The British buyer who has seen prices rise when doing their calculations by 10% will find that your property is not more expensive than it previously was. They may well be willing to go the extra mile to purchase their dream house in the sun.

What are the risks? Well, it is perfectly possible that in the future the pound will go back up but as a 1% cut in interest rates in the UK is being talked about after the recent carnage on the stock exchanges, don’t expect that to happen very soon, giving you a window of opportunity now to sell at a lower price.

Secondly, someone may make an even lower offer. It is currently a buyer’s market and this is going to happen anyway at the higher or lower price. However you will get more offers on the property at the lower price obviously and if you are relocating to another property here in Spain then remember that you too can offer a lower amount and expect to see it accepted at the moment.

Tags: property, spanish

If you are a speculator you can make money investing in property in Spain.
Here are a few of the ways :
From time to time builders offer deals where there is currently no planning
permission.
For example a scheme has been approved and is going through the
approval steps which may last several years.

You are offered a chance to join in the process by paying a returnable deposit.
If the permission is not given, the money is returned to you with interest over the
period of your exposure.

Sometimes to encourage sales a number of quick sales are offered at a lower price
You could pick out the best properties e.g. penthouses or front corners and wait until construction begins.

This process may last up to 4 years.
You can then put your property up for sale at the market rate. The figure can be from 30% to 100% higher than what you paid.
Because there are no transactions happening there are no title deeds and tax payments etc.
So you could choose to take your profit and leave the new buyer to compete final
payments and legal fees of the transaction

There is always risk in speculation so your job is to reduce or eliminate it and taking
to a lawyer is a good first step.
He could check out that everything is in order before you enter into the deal.