A once familiar sight has returned
Following eight years of negativity since the crisis of 2008, property agents and developers are looking positively at 2016. But it’s not only the real-estate market that is on the up. The whole of Spain seems to be having a great year.
Here are just a few of the positive points from the first quarter of 2016:
- In February, Sales of housing increased a whopping 15.8% with 34,771 deed transfers registered.
- In January the number of mortgages approved in Spain increased by 10%, when compared to the same period in the previous year.
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Mortgages also increased in February with the number written in the property register increasing by 15.9%, when compared to the same month in 2015, to 24,887.
- During the first three months of the year the cost of rental property increased to its highest level since the crisis with a quarterly increase of 4.3%.
- During the crisis thousands of people fell behind with their mortgages and sadly saw their homes repossessed. In 2015 the number of foreclosures fell by 13%.
- February also saw property prices across Spain increase by an average of 2.7% in response to the upsurge in demand.
- Spain is always popular with tourists but in February the number of international visitors jumped up 14%, over Feb 2015, with 3.7 million visitors landing.
- In Andalucia alone, February saw over 1.2 million passengers arrive in the regions airports. The first two months of the year registered a 16.2% increase over the same period in 2015.
- Hoteliers had a fantastic February with the number of overnight stays increasing to 16.3 million, an increase of 12.4%.
Of course, we have to accept that some of the increase in tourism is due to security concerns in other once popular destinations like Turkey and Greece. Also, the Euro is quite firm at the moment and with a GBP to EUR rate of 1.29 (at the time of writing) British property shoppers can get a lot of property for their money.
Brexit
Despite worries over the Brexit referendum and the uncertain future that dominates the debate, the Brits are still coming in their thousand to visit Spain and are also still buying property. Other nationalities that appear to be “back in the game” are the Russians, Germans and Canadians – all of whom are snapping up property along the coast.
Of course, many people are staying away until they see the result of the Brexit but long-term investors don’t appear to be at all concerned about the UK’s status in Europe and are adding properties to their portfolios buying hotels, bed & breakfasts and business premises. Just last week I was with an investor who had just purchased an entire development of 14 villas.
Construction
Those who live here can’t have failed to notice the reappearance of large cranes on the horizon. All along the coast new developments are springing up and many are being sold out well before completion. A nice development called Atalaya Hills has apparently sold out its first phase of properties in only a month.
The construction boom is happening all over the coast with new urbanisations appearing from Estepona to Mijas.
To better explain, here is a list of a few new developments I am aware of: Atalaya Hills, Mirabella Hills, La Cala Hill Club, Jade Beach, Azure, Mirador del Paraiso Villas, Azahar de Marbella, Alcazaba Lagoon, Marques de Guadalmina and La Floresta Sur.
This is by no means a full list but it gives you an idea of the level of construction activity we’re seeing at the moment. Considering the cranes completely vanished from our towns for the best part of eight years it is nice to see them back.
To summarise, and this is a personal opinion, I feel that there is more life on the coast right now. For many years the feeling down here was dismal. We still had the weather and great food but the general feeling was low. Now it’s changed, noticeably. There are more people around, fewer commercial units with boarded up windows, obvious increases in tourism, and the new construction boom – money seems to have returned to the Costa del Sol, which is good for everybody.
