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Year on year property sales in Spain have increased for five months in a row, signalling that the residential real estate casas 300x117 - Property market is becoming stable in Spainmarket is becoming more stable.

The latest figures from Spain’s National Institute of Statistics (INE) shows that sales increased by 10% in July on an annual basis and by 9% on a quarterly basis.

The INE doesn’t break down monthly sales figures by nationality, but real estate experts point out that foreign buyers are driving the sales increase. This suggests that there is plenty of scope for further increases when local demand picks up with falling unemployment and easier mortgage lending.
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Buying a home in Spain is cheaper than elsewhere in the EU.

apartments for sale in Spain 300x300 - The price of buying a home in SpainAs reported by an annual analysis on Spain’s real estate market conducted by Deloitte, the percentage of income spent by households on mortgage payments - rate of effort - has been steadily falling in recent years and currently stands at 33 per cent, as a result of the decline in house prices registered since the outbreak of the economic crisis.

Moreover, the average home price in Spain is 4.4 times the individual gross salary, compared to many countries in the European Union where prices are 6.1 times the individual gross wage and Britain and France, where the ratio is 8.5 and 7.9 times the individual income.

For the fourth year and compared to the rest of the country, homeowners in Barcelona and Guipuzcoa have had to spend a larger percentage of their income on mortgage payments, given the high price of housing in those provinces.
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The public prosecutor has signalled its intention to demand the demolition of 98 homes owned by British citizens in Albox, Almeria, which were built on non urban land and, allegedly, without the mandatory municipal licences.

Albox 300x243 - Courts to request demolition of 98 illegal homes in Albox, AlmeriaThe 98 homes are situated in the El Romeral-La Aljambra area and were constructed between 2004 and 2006 and, according to the courts, “are not legal because they do not comply with current planning laws in Albox”.

Two brothers, known under the initials J.F.A.H. and D.L.A.H., who were developers and builders of the residential complex, under various company names - Proyecto y Construcciones Almanzora SL, Procoal Villas SL and Empire Villas Sl - apparently built the homes on land not zoned for building and without a municipal licence and not only disobeyed an order to cease activity completely but continued to build more properties.
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The president of the Junta de Andalucía, Susana Díaz, stated in Wednesday’s state of the region debate that her government plans to apply changes to Andalucía’s planning laws, or LOUA, which could regularise up to 3,000 illegal properties in Malaga.

46353 1419145 foto 997489 300x225 - Good news to illegal property owners in AndalucíaThe proposed modification refers to Article 185 of the LOUA which states that subdivided plots of land are subject to urban planning and the necessary regulations. Changes to the existing article would allow buildings on these plots to be included in Decree 2/2012 - not previously permitted - which regularises illegal properties under something called ‘asimilado a fuera de ordenacíon’. This measure, while not permitting full legalisation and the granting of primary occupation licences, does permit property owners to access basic services such as electricity and water.

However the reform will only affect small subdivided plots of land - into two parcels or more - and not those on which whole residential estates have been built. Nor does it affect those plots built on protected land or flood plains.

In spite of this the measure could benefit, in terms of Malaga province, around 3,000 homes or six per cent of the total number (estimated at around 50,000) of illegal properties. The figure rises to 20,000 to 25,000 in the whole of Andalucía.
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Sierra Blanca Estates proposes to build The World Marbella on land where it had planned one of the skyscrapers that were rejected at the beginning of this year.

Marbella beach 300x187 - A new project for 112 state-of-the-art apartments in MarbellaThe five continents will no longer be represented in Marbella solely by the residents who hail from all over the world. Europe, America, Asia, Africa and Oceania, will give their names to the five sections of a new real estate development, a ‘microworld’ that will boast innovative design, top-of-the-range materials and as many services as residents could ask for.

The World Marbella is the name of Sierra Blanca Estates’ new project to be built on the site just metres from the Golden Mile where they had envisaged building one of the infamous skyscrapers that ended up being rejected by residents and council at the beginning of this year.

The scheme is attractive on paper and a select group of real estate firms are already showing it to potential clients - but only those who might be able to afford the between 1.3 and 3.4 million euros that these exclusive apartments are going on sale for.
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