Costa del Sol Property Market Report October 2008 from Spanish Hot Properties

Spain (SANEPR.com) November 13, 2008 -- Well it’s been a pretty interesting year to date with the current credit crunch adding further fuel to an already depressed market. The oversupply of Spanish property at the bottom to middle end of the Costa del sol property market hasn’t got any better and the saying at the beginning of the year that it’s a good time to buy and a terrible time to sell has just compounded itself and for the majority of people its not good news explained Nick Stuart managing director of Spanish Hot Properties, Spain’s number one internet based real Estate Agency. Mr. and Mrs. Jacobsen are a very good example of what Nick was eluding to. They have lived here in Spain since 2000 and bought here at the top of the market in 2006 in the Golden Valley just outside Marbella for €280,000 they find there two bedroom apartment currently valued around €220,000 and if they had to sell in a hurry they would be lucky to get €180,000 for the there property which as Jens Jacobsen explained “We have no choice but to sit it out and all we can really do is rent the apartment out as we have to move to another town for work commitments”.

“Then you have an oversupply of newly built property with most Spanish property developers just putting there head in the sand and refusing to reduce prices to a level that people are prepared to buy at” explained Nick. “Obviously there is the resale market in which the people having to sell are most people who have no choice but to sell and unlike the Costa del Sol property developers they cant afford for the market to come back to what it was” continued Nick

So what does this mean for the Costa del Sol Property Market as we head towards the end of 2008. It’s the usual story of someone else’s loss being someone else’s gain and whilst the majority will have to struggle the people who are in a position to buy have never had it so good and with the market showing no sign of a return it should remain a buyers market right through 2009, well that’s Nick’s opinion anyway. “Finally property developers are starting to follow the lead of Taylor Woodrow Espana who cut there prices by a minimum of 25% from there 2007 prices back in August and were the only Spanish property devloper to actually sell a reasonable number of units in 2008 because the value to the purchaser made sense and in reality is even if the market was to drop they would still be in a very good position with there purchase. Now other developers such as Union Seis and others are beginning to follow suit where luxury apartments that were priced at €350,000 can now be bought for €240,000” Nick explained further.

The resale market also offers incredible value at present with the difference between a resale and a newly built property that hasn’t been discount being no more evident than in La Quinta Golf where you can buy a resale for under €220.000 but brand new apartments were sold for €495,000 this year.

So going into 2009 it is most definitely a buyers market but due to the wide choice it makes sense to deal with a profession property agent who has its client’s interests at heart. “Spanish Hot Properties don’t believe in subsidized Discovery trips for the obvious reason that it’s not in the client’s interest and at the end of the day all expenses have to be found from somewhere. When making an investment in excess of €175,000 it makes sense to be able to have the time to make the right choice and not be under pressure from someone who may be under pressure to make a sale to keep his job.

Anyone wishing to contact Spanish Hot Properties can do so via phone or online at http://www.spanishhotproperties.com