Spain remains the preferred destination of the majority of British buyers, despite stories of falling prices and failed developers. Spain has had its fair share of detractors in the past few months – even before the global credit crisis began to be felt more acutely across the world, there were plenty of stories of the Spanish property market taking a dive. Estate agents going out of business, developers folding and holiday homes being torn down by the local authorities for breaching planning regulations do not make for the most sympathetic of headlines.
But it takes more than that to put off many of the people who have had the dream of moving to a property in Spain close to their hearts for years. These buyers are likely to be the recipients of some of the best deals in the international real estate market at the moment, whether buying new-builds or resales, as developers, agents and private individuals alike look to reduce their overheads and remove stock from their lists.
One of the keys to making sure your purchase is protected in times of economic instability is to use the biggest and well-respected of companies. These developers will have significant backing and have resources that are diverse enough that they can support themselves. Taylor Woodrow, one of the biggest names in UK house building, has been offering properties in Spain for the past 50 years, and to celebrate this, is offering substantial discounts on new properties.
For example, a two-bedroom townhouse on the Lagunas del Sol development in Rojales on the Costa Blanca is now available from €135,000 (£107,032) – a discount from the original price of €210,000. Other developments with the company on projects across the Costa Blanca, Mallorca and the Costa del Sol are available at discounts up to 25 per cent. If you are looking for a base in one of the most picturesque parts of Spain, with an international airport only 35 minutes away and the wild beaches of the Blanca coast within 10km, this could be the perfect deal.
Another way to find the best deals in town is to make your way to the areas that have yet to be fully developed by the residential tourism market. In Spain, this is the case for many of the city centres, and makes for an attractive way of getting some of the best of Spanish life, culture and architecture. Being Spain, many of the cities are within easy reach of the coastal areas, and as most universities are based in city centres, the opportunities are there for rental while you are not in the country.
Just 20 minutes’ drive from Granada, home to Spain’s most visited monument, La Alhambra, is the countryside development of Mirador de Iznalloz which is priced from an unbelievably low €65,209 (£51,569) proving that ‘established’
Even better value can be found on one of the ‘forgotten’
There is another way to make sure that you are able to buy a property for less that it has previously been advertised, but for some people this does present an ethical issue. As the market changes and some buyers are struggling to ‘flip’ their properties as they come near to completion, the number of ‘distressed’
The specific properties available like this tend to change rapidly, given that the asking price is well below the official valuation, but an example sold by Open Frontiers is of an apartment in a frontline marina development in Estepona on the Costa del Sol. At a price of €206,000 (£163,078), you could be the owner of this prime piece of Spanish real estate for far less than the bank valuation of €366,720 (£290,310).
For more information on buying property in Spain, plus free buying guides, real estate fact sheets and podcasts featuring expert advice on property abroad, visit http://www.buyassociation.co.uk
Full details of the Spanish property buying guide are available at -
http://www.buyassociation.co.uk/
