October 16, 2007
Cartagena set for port boom
A massive investment in the harbour facilities of Murcian town Cartagena could see property prices skyrocket in the area. Some €1 billion (£675 million) is to be spent by the Spanish national government converting the town’s harbour into a huge trading port. This is with the intention of establishing Cartagena as the major destination for incoming trade from the Far East.
Murcian regional president, Ramon Luis Valcarcel says that the investment is an opportunity for Cartagena, the Murcian region, and for Spain as a whole cannot afford to lose. According to Valcarcel, the regional government is going to give all the support possible to the investment project. Valcarcel also mentioned that Cartagena was now expanding at an “unthinkable” rate.
Posted on: Spain
October 3, 2007
Major New Development near Paris
France is presently going through major developments. There is a project in Massy, a town near Paris, worth over £144 million. A mix of private homes and commercial properties are to be built in the area. There is an agreement between Spanish development and investment giants Fadesa and US fund management group Colony Capital for the development of a new large-scale property project in Massy, home of several popular ski resorts.
The agreement relates to an as-yet-unnamed project covering some 100,000 square metres of floor space on a six-hectare plot in Massy presently owned by communications company Alcatel.
Posted on: Spain
September 29, 2007
Morocco: The New Spain
A few years ago, British buyers who would have been searching to invest in Spain are turning to the Moroccan property market, said information providers Spanish Living.
Ailse Farlene, marketing director of Spanish Living also said, “Within the Spanish Living group, we’ve started to look at property around the world – and we’ve noticed an awful lot of British buyers are interested in very cheap property in Morocco. Morocco is how the south of Spain was ten years ago. So you can get apartments from around 15,000 to 20,000 euros.”
In a recent Knight Frank forecast, Morroco was named as the fourth most profitable investment for 2007, next to the top three: Lithuania, Latvia and Slovenia. House prices are expected to rise by 15 per cent this year, as compared with 20 per cent in Lithuania and 7.5 per cent in other so-called ‘hot spots’ such as Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Montenegro.
Posted on: Spain
September 28, 2007
Operation Eyesore improves tourist beaches
Millions of holiday makers and new home buyers are now waiting for new developments and new improvements in their places and destinations as the Spanish government officials are spending EUR 20M at the seaside this year, buying up at least as many properties and various plots to improve their sceneries.
The program, called Operation Eyesore, has so far purchased and demolished 63 structures along the country’s 10,000 kilometer coastline as part of the return to its seashore operation state. This is according to the Environment Ministry.
Included in the demolition were bars, homes, jetties, walls and even a factory, which have all been destroyed because according to the Law of Coasts, these structures are illegal and abandoned, and they need to be demolished. The law also states that any abandoned or illegal structure near the seashore must be abolished.
Posted on: Spain
September 26, 2007
The Market: Golf and Greenery
Golf is still the best headway for a good property investment, and the reason for a continued growth in the property market, anywhere in the world as proven by Portugal, which is now the third favorite second home destination of Brits seeking rest and relaxation, after Spain and France.
The game of golf also had its similar effect on much of the properties in the southern region of the Algarve, as it has had in Spain’s Costa del Sol. The wonderful and much sought-after triumvirate of Quinta de Lobo, Vale do Lobo, and Vila Sol golf resorts have actually placed the Algarve on the map of the international golfers and this effect have also given rise to a number of villas worth more than 1 million euros – this includes one of the villas by celebrity DJ Chris Evans who have a 2 million euro property there – and a very growing number of rental apartments in the central Algarve now start the cost at around 70,000 euros, but the prices can be much higher. On the other hand, the eastern part of the region, the up and coming Tavira, studios are now being sold for around 50,000 euros. Places such as Vilamoura and Albufeira are very much wonderful established resorts with beautiful sceneries and an assortment of property options.
Posted on: Spain
September 18, 2007
Spanish property price inflation slows to 10.8%
According to the latest figures of Spanish Property Housing, the average cost of property in Spain has rised by as much as 10.8 percent over the last 12 months to the end of June 2006. The drop represents a modest fall from the 12 percent which was taken into account until the end of March 2006.
The average cost of property in Spain has been downright falling every quarter since December 2006, when the rate of property inflation was 17.2 percent.
Posted on: Spain
September 14, 2007
Retirees moving to Spain ‘need to plan ahead’
According to a financial institute in Spain, retired moving to Spain may need to consider more than the properties they would live in. They need to consider the financial aspects in taking out a pension while abroad.
The state pension has only one way to be released – through a drawn in the Iberian peninsula, so long as the prerequisite national insurance contributions have been made over the years. This is according to the financial institute, the Bank of Scotland International.
Posted on: Spain
August 21, 2007
Spain is still top overseas property destination
According to a news report, Spain is still the top quality destination that foreigners and tourists go to.
Britons are likely to buy more property in Spain than in France, according to Moneycorp, who conducted a twice-yearly in depth look at overseas property investment.
Moneycorp, a foreign currency specialist, records that at least 30 percent of overseas property investment inquiries for a property investment in Spain, unlike in France, who only garnered about 14 percent.
Posted on: Spain
August 16, 2007
Spain’s property market sustained by immigrants - and divorcees
There are a number of factors which contribute to Spain’s increasing demand on the property market – from an increase number of households to a number of increasing immigrants.
According to the Financial Times, specifically a report by Angel Berges, a partner at Analistas Financieros Incernationales, a Madrid consultancy, that says that there is an estimation of immigrants who will buy at least 170,000 homes in Spain this year (almost a quarter of the total demand for new houses in Spain). “Buyers needs not worry of the property crash in Spain this year, in the short or medium term. This is because of the new demands instigated by our immigrants,” says Berges, who reported to Financial Times.
Posted on: Spain
Spain’s popularity fuelled by cheap Euro mortgages and cheaper flights
The cause of Spain’s continued popularity is the low rate Euro mortgages and the boom in low cost flights. This is in accordance with the report by Banco Halifax Hispania.
According to the Spanish right man of Halifax (the UK’s largest lender) delivers figures from the recent Official Social Trends Report that boasts Spain of having 27 percent of all second homes overseas owned by Brits and also says that YouGov’s research found out that 50 percent of 18 to 29 year olds have plans of buying property abroad.
“People have now come to realize that buying property in Spain is now possible with low cost mortgages and Banco Halifax Hispania is seeing a trend to the rise of people from UK wanting to buy property in this country,” Ian Smith said, head of European operations in Halifax. Aside from being able to supply mortgages products specifically designed for UK buyers, the bank also is in direct contact with an approved panel of qualified solicitors and surveyors in the Costa del Sol and Costa Blanca regions which have local knowledge and is familiar with the experience of British customers.
Posted on: Spain
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