Agents Report Rising Investor Demand for Spanish Property
It’s no secret that the euro has been a little downtrodden by sterling since the beginning of the year. With the additional impact of 200,000 more British investors eyeing up the market since changes to regulations came into force in April, Spain is very much an investors market!
The latest Spanish Property Market Confidence Index (SPMCI) from Spain’s major property portal Kyero reveals that around 71% of agents in the country have more confidence in the property market in Q1 2015 compared to a year earlier.
Covering 160 English-speaking and 216 Spanish-speaking agents across the country, the survey indicates a much more bullish attitude towards the market among the English-speakers, almost certainly due purely to sterling strength.
Martin Dell, director of Kyero said: ” The strength of sterling has played a key role in the confidence divide that we are seeing currently between English-speaking and Spanish-speaking real estate agents in Spain. Some 30% of English-speaking respondents have highlighted stronger sterling as the most significant change over the past we months. For Spanish-speaking agents, increased marketing tops the table of significant changes with 26% of respondents flagging this up as the biggest change “.
It is very evident that marketing to English property investors has stepped up a notch in 2015, with agents vying for pole position with tempting offers of turnkey investment opportunities in coastal resort areas.
Properties removed from the market months ago have been re-introduced at huge discounts, some with tempting mortgage offers of up to 110% loan to value in attempts to attract British buyers into Spain.
Professional resort management companies are releasing old stock on to the market at heavily discounted prices, showing an eagerness not to miss out on British investor activity. In a bid to maximise profits, resort companies are appointing agents on a time-sensitive, volume sale basis, churning out whole developments that have become tired and worthless to them.
Although it is undeniably a great time for sterling investors to buy in Spain’s property market, analysts believe they will have to wait to see any marked capital appreciation. Many parts of Spain’s ever-popular southern coastline have become synonymous with swathes of empty, half-finished developments, many owned by banks.
As these are completed and released on the market with accompanying offers of low cost mortgages, property price increases in Spain will be stunted as a result.
However, for a straightforward investment that isn’t an issue. Spain is enjoying record-breaking tourist numbers meaning that good rental incomes are more or less guaranteed in the resort areas. British buyers who buy well and in the right locations can’t really fail to enjoy favourable returns at the current time.
A word of advice from the author: Many agents are piling pressure on British buyers to act swiftly, while they are in such an advantageous position. All property investments should be calculated and considered decisions and there’s absolutely no hurry to jump on the bandwagon in Spain. With the amount of poorly performing property assets remaining on the books of Spain’s banks, we have not seen the last of the bargains in its property market by any stretch of the imagination. It is also highly unlikely that price movement will be significant in the next two years because of oversupply and so there’s plenty of time to make a cracking investment purchase in Spain.
Article by +Roxanne James on behalf of Propertyshowrooms.com
Bulgarian Holiday Rental Portal Captures Tourism Growth
Bulgaria’s tourism minister Nikolina Angelkova recently reported a bumper winter season (December-February) that saw growth of over 9%, representing an increase of almost 80,000 tourists.
Commenting on this year’s summer season, she said the preliminary forecast was extremely optimistic. An increase of 5% of German arrivals, 10% Israeli, 5% from France and a massive 40% increase in visitors from Lituania, Latvia and Moldova is forecast for summer 2015.
Bulgaria has become an increasingly popular holiday destination in the last few years although its tourist sector is relatively undeveloped. With fantastic beach resorts and winter skiing, there’s something for everyone all year around.
Seeing a niche in the market, a new portal – Arendoo.com – is set to revolutionise Bulgaria’s holiday property market. This is good news for the many British and Irish investors in Bulgaria’s property market and presents an opportunity to capture growth in the country’s tourism and make a good profit from it.
Arendoo.com is a fully transparent, fully accountable rental portal that generates bookings as well as providing associated services such as cleaning, key exchange and linen changes. In a press release the portal states:
” Arendoo.com is Bulgaria’s answer to a decade of under-performing property assets. Charging owners only when property rentals are completed, arendoo.com’s clients enjoyed their properties being let for more than 40,000 rented nights last year. “
The portal’s director Christophe Gater said: ” Until now, British and Irish owners have had few professional options in the Bulgarian rental market. Most have naturally opted for the services offered by their complex reception but have suffered inexplicably low occupancy. It’s time for accountability and full transparency in Bulgaria’s holiday rental market “.
Arendoo.com fills the void and communication between foreign owners and their holiday properties in Bulgaria. It is currently the only rental portal offering videos of listed properties and online log-in facilities for owners where they can view all bookings, transactions and monies owed. They also cover check-in and check-out together with cleaning and linen services so that owners overseas have hassle-free rentals in their absence.
The portal arrives at just the right time as Bulgaria’s popularity among international tourists is rising. Owners of property in the country’s holiday hotspots now have a way to tap into visitor volume growth allowing them to enjoy more consistent rental income.
Article by +Roxanne James on behalf of Propertyshowrooms.com
Restoration Row over Queen’s Former Home in Malta
It’s a little-known fact that Queen Elizabeth called Malta home for a period between 1949 and 1951. Before her coronation, the then Princess stayed in a villa leased by Lord Louis Mountbatten from 1929 while her fiancé at that time, The Duke of Edinburgh was stationed in Malta as a serving Royal Navy officer. Malta is the only country outside the UK, the Queen has ever lived in.
Now, the Queen’s former residence – called Villa Guardamangia – is at the centre of a row over its restoration. A recent survey conducted by the Telegraph revealed that 84% of respondents would visit the villa in Malta if it were restored and opened to the public.
The only property outside of the UK which the Queen has called home
Located on the outskirts of Valletta, the formerly imposing house is now in need of considerable renovation and being privately owned, there are conflicting opinions as to who should fund the work. Leading conservationist Astrid Vella feels that the government should foot the bill for the work which would considerably boost tourism on the island, already a popular destination for international holidaymakers.
” This villa not only has immense architectural value but it’s the only property outside of the UK which the Queen has called home, ” said Ms Vella from the steps of the villa itself. ” It is crucial to our heritage and our collective memory and could really boost quality tourist numbers, ” she added.
The row comes in the build up to the next Royal visit scheduled for November. It has been reported that on her last trip to Malta , the Queen requested she be able to visit her former home but the current owners did not agree to it. Mrs Vella believes the Maltese government has a duty to restore the building to its former glory as an important part of the island’s heritage.
She said: ” The only other solution is for the government to buy such houses outright and restore and maintain them at state expense, for public use. If these buildings are considered public heritage, then it follows that public heritage must not be maintained at private expense, enforced by law, but at public expense but with the consent of the owners and market-price compensation paid to the, and not through enforced expropriation or requisition. The government is, apparently, in negotiation with the owners to buy Villa Guardamangia, or so it has told the press “.
The row has prompted Malta’s government to issue a statement concerning the villa in which it says it has already embarked on a process to restore the property: ” Surveys on the property have been carried out and restoration costs estimates have been gathered. However, the government has no title on the property and this has created legal complications with its owners “.
Despite the legal issues, the government has confirmed the property will be expropriated, with full compensation to its owners because it ” believes that the property is one of historical heritage “.
Article by +Roxanne James on behalf of Propertyshowrooms.com
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