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Permits for new homes doubled in Marbella 1

SpainHouses.netJanuary 7, 2013January 7, 20131 Comment

Even though the construction sector is still in a state of coma on a national level, Marbella continues to show signs of movement with regard to property, according to the annual report issued by the Town Planning Department. In 2012, the council issued licences for the construction of 312 homes, compared with 147 in 2011. “This shows that there is activity in Marbella and the town continues to be the focus of attraction for many investors” comments Town Planning councillor Pablo Moro.

Other information appears to back this up, such as a 20 per cent increase in the number of first occupancy licences. These relate to 993 properties with a value of over 138 million euros. With regard to permits which have been issued for minor works, there was an increase of 10 per cent last year, bringing the figure to 2,218, and a budget of 23 million euros.

Another example of the town's economic strength is that about twenty strategic investment projects have been made public, among them the initiative by Grupo Peñarroya to build a tourism complex on a 350 hectare site in Las Chapas area. “These are projects which will give a boost to Marbella and could become the exit point from the crisis”, says Town Planning director Mario Ruiz.
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Property sales expected to increase in Spain in 2013

SpainHouses.netDecember 31, 2012December 31, 2012Leave a comment

The last quarter of 2012 saw a positive end to the year with a flurry of British and other international buyers taking advantage of falling prices and a reduced VAT rate on new properties in Spain.

The higher end of the market also seems to have performed well and at the lower end of the market what are regarded as bargain prices are attracting buyers, especially those with cash as getting a mortgage in Spain is not easy.

Mortgage tax relief has been abolished and VAT on new homes goes up to 10% on 01 January. The temporary reduction of VAT to 4% has boosted the number of overseas buyers.

Foreign buyers have tended to dominate the market in 2012, mainly Belgian, French, Norwegian, Swedish, and a welcome resurgence of more British buyers over the last three months.
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Chinese are drawn to Málaga by new promise of residency for buyers

SpainHouses.netDecember 24, 2012December 23, 2012Leave a comment

At the moment it’s nothing more than a declaration of intention by the government.

Nevertheless, since the announcement of the plan, three weeks ago, to give residency to non-EU foreigners who buy a home in Spain for more than 160,000 euros, the stagnant property market on the Costa del Sol has started to move a little.

With around 15,000 new homes without buyers, a national property market paralysed by the crisis and Europe on a go-slow, estate agents see this new measure as their last chance to offload stock and to get things moving again.
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Spanish House Prices Keep Falling 2

SpainHouses.netDecember 17, 2012December 16, 20122 Comments

Spanish house prices fell by the most in the third quarter of this year since a massive property bubble burst around the start of 2008, according to figures released Friday by the National Statistics Institute (INE).

The INE said prices declined 15.2 percent in the period July-September from a year earlier after declining 14.4 percent in the previous three months. Prices have now fallen for the past 18 quarters, with the pace of the falls accelerating over the past year. Prices in the third quarter of last year were down 7.4 percent, eased 11.2 percent the following quarter and dropped 12.6 percent in the first quarter of this year.

The average price of existing homes declined an annual 16.4 percent, while the price of new homes dropped 13.6 percent. Prices fell in all of the Spanish regions, with the biggest fall experienced by Madrid where they declined 17.9 percent, followed by Asturias where they dropped 17.5 percent.

Home sales have picked up in the past few months in anticipation of an increase in the value-added tax rate on new housing to 10 percent from four percent at the start of next year, when the government will also remove tax breaks for mortgage payments on the main home.

However, demand for housing remains conditioned by an unemployment rate of over 25 percent and by tight credit.

Via: elpais.com

Spain to give legal residence to non-EU property buyers 1

SpainHouses.netDecember 10, 2012December 10, 20121 Comment

There’s no such thing as an illegal immigrant with money. At least not in Spain thanks to the Government’s new strategy to revive the real estate market. The proposal is to change the immigration law to grant legal residence to non-EU citizens who buy a property in Spain for more than 160,000 euros.

Secretary of State for Commerce Jaime García-Legaz announced the project on Monday although later Prime Minister Rajoy stressed that as yet “no decision had been taken”.
There was an immediate response from other political parties, unions and immigrants’ associations, who described the plans as “strange” and “implausible”.

García-Legaz explained that the reform process would be set in motion within a few weeks and that he considered the 160,000 threshold to be “balanced” with respect to the government’s objectives.
“We can’t establish a lower price limit, because that would generate a massive demand for residence permits using a property as an excuse to get one,” he stressed.
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