Good time for buying property in Spain ??
 

I was wondering if there are any regions of Spain that have experienced a more than average drop of property prices due to the recession and other reasons?
I remember that even before the recession the prices were pretty low in the Costa Calida region. South of Spain would be my choice but any other suggestions are welcome.

10 years ago was a good time to buy. not sure if there have been drops but even if there have been, it still isn't as cheap as it used to be.

Fucking Euro! :1orglaugh

be careful with spain.... local building regulations are frikken crazy. Means if some developer wants to build on your land, they can simply take your land, legally.

eg
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8050768.stm

interesting read. I haven't heard about it before.

could be a total nightmare:2 cents:

So many people have lost their properties in Spain through corruption. Builder were giving back handers to elected officials for planning permission, and then building on land they were not legally allowed to. When the shit hit the fan, these properties were condemned and / or the ownership was taken away from the people who purchased the units.

Very sad state of affairs.

What I know is in Valencia properties are really cheap. I know this because I have a friend there trying to sell to buy another apartment. The price of his property droped 40% in 1 year. Crazy.

I don´t know how is Valencia compared to other regions.

I live in Valencia. Just Google "Valencia Land Grab" and you'll see how many peeps have lost properties, bought with legal permission, only to discover that due to corruption, they are now deemed illegal. Also the government can build a new road up to your door, or install street lighting, or a new sewerage system, and you HAVE to pay for it.
Prices here have still along way to fall. Just because something says "50% Off" doesn't mean it's a bargain....as houses here were ridiculously overpriced to start with. Bank lending has completely dried up. There is an overhang of over 1 million unsold properties. Wage deflation has started. Four million unemployed (officially...so who knows the real figure) and maybe a 1/3 of the working population without work by 2011. And that's probably the year the shit will really hit the fan, as all those holding on by their fingernails, will be forced to let go. See you then!

thanks for your answers :)

I think it might be a good idea to wait about a year or so to see how it goes.

The Valencia region is one I was thinking about too.

Hold off for a while. I've been keeping my eyes on finca prices for about a year.
Looking about 1hr inland between Barca and Valenica, just into Aragon. The prices are still dropping.

If you buy non urban land there is always the risk of losing your house, but if its an apartment/house in a urban area. you're safe enough.

I'm buying non urban because I want a few hectares. But where I'm looking there'll never be a massive increase in population. so there wont be any major development work.

You want something cheap. Look here in Cancun.

Prices are going down and well worth it.

You can get a condo on the beach for 225k and up, you can get a home one the gulf for about 1million and up you can get a home on the bay for about 290+ and you can get homes in the city for about 200+

I'm also thinking about buying at least a hectare, so I'm a bit worried about the horror stories I've read about since starting this thread. I have quite a few friends that bought land and built houses on it in the Murcia area and none of them had any problems (or even heard of such situations). I guess it depends a lot on the region as well.

as for Cancun, it's a bit too far away. I need to be located in Europe :)

i think mexico have many issues with non-mexican land ownership? you have to be sponsored by a mexican citizen or something?

spain is part of the EU and have been for years, i think it is pretty safe to invest in spain but it sounds like it might be hard to get a loan..

btw the spanish banks have fared well through the economical downfall, they were credited with not issuing high risk mortgage loans which have caused bank demise in many other european countries as well as US...

I was thinking about paying 30% or so up front and getting a loan on the rest. It might be a bit easier then.

renting has to be the way to go for now. I bought and lost 180,000 dollars in value in a year in Soutern California.

Still doing it, rent sounds great.

I'm afraid that you have a big fat ZERO chance of getting a loan on a property that isn't urbanized....banks here are no longer in the mortgage business. Also keep in mind that those country properties cannot be changed in regard to size, they cannot be larger than the original build (so no swimming pool/tennis court) and cannot be built upwards. For many of the large fincas you see as ruins, you'll need to actually farm (register as a farmer!) at least 10,000 m2 in order to start restoration. There is a reason most are empty and just falling down.
And one other important consideration....absolutely no chance of an internet connection!! You'll be stuck with satellite, which is beyond the realms of frustration with huge lag times.
Sorry to say, but a webmaster's got to live urbanized.

I would typically not say that.
Renters are the very people that pay a large chunk of my bills.

When did you buy?...... i'm guessing 2005-07?

Buy low, sell high.

Buy low, have others pay for it, and use it as leverage.
Very few reasons to sell.

After reading all of the above it sounds like the perfect time to buy.

Bajo Aragon/ matarana has got wifi covering the whole area. You have to buy a hectare in most places *some 2.5 hectares* but you can build up to 200m on there as well as swimming pool, it all depends on the region....


Catalunya, Valencia and costal Andalucia are strict, but go inland a bit and you're o.k

Getting a loan on land is a fucker though. But because I'm looking in the middle of nowhere, lands cheap.

yeah, I've noticed a lot of places falling down, but I knew people that built in places I was surprised they actually let them. On cliffs right along the sea front etc.. Some of them bought old houses and added pools and so on, others built from scratch. I guess it might depend on the region or having the right "connections".
I might just go the easy route and buy a house that's ready to move into. If I wait a little longer and the prices keep dropping, I think it won't be a problem.

It's a good time, aint gonna get much cheaper.

South of Marbella is nice, a mate of mine owns a real estate company down there, he's in a 7 bedroom villa.

http://www.marbellasvillas.com is one of his sites :)