Comment and Analysis on the Spanish Property Market in Spain January / February 2017

I have picked out these articles with useful comment and analysis and excluded those that contain superficial comment or hype and “creative” journalism only.

You have here the headline and link and a brief summary from me and maybe a comment so you can decide whether the article is of interest.

You may find it useful simply to scan through the whole lot and pick up a flavour for what is being said.

The Next Hot Luxury Property Markets: https://newswire.net/newsroom/blog-post/00095369-the-next-hot-luxury-property-markets.html Published 25th Feb – The article mentions Valencia as a hot location for property investment and doesnt say much more than the headline.

Atlantic Attention on Spain: https://www.euroweeklynews.com/2017/02/18/atlantic-attention-on-spain/ Published 19th February: This article comments on an article published in the New York Times that extolls the merits of Barcelona as a property investment location. There is an interesting comment on the increasing number of Golden Visa applicants which allows applicants to gain Spanish residency if they invest over 500€k. The majority of applicants are Chinese.

Spanish Second Homes Market Price Rises 7.37% Thanks to Investor Interest http://thecorner.eu/spain-economy/second-hand-homes-prices-rise-investor-interest/62012/ Published 18th Feb – Interesting commentary reporting that house prices rose an average of over 7% in the second half of 2016. There’s no comment on the source of these figures, in a marketplace characterised by disinformation and with asking prices out of kilter with market sentiment, but there is no denying the general direction of travel.

There are a number of articles published around this date with a similar message.

Strong Growth in Spanish Property Market Set to Continue on 2017: http://www.propertywire.com/news/europe/strong-growth-spanish-property-market-set-continue-2017/ Published 17th Feb – Very brief article pointing out the improvement in sales volume with an apparent 14% increase in 2016 over 2015. So this is an undeniable change in market activity which is generally good news for the property industry and almost certainly indicates values are improving although, of course, in theory volume could go up and prices fall. In fact you would expect volume to go up in response to falling prices.

There are a number of articles published around this date reporting the same news.

Brits Still Account for over 2% of Property Purchases in Spain: http://spanishnewstoday.com/brits-still-account-for-over-2-per-cent-of-property-purchases-in-spain_85623-a.html Published 15th Feb – This article repeats what we all know which is that the British account for over 13% of property transactions made by foreigners in Spain in 2016, down from over 16% in 2015 which they put down to concerns over Brexit. The Brits are the biggest single group of foreigners, but in my opinion at 2% of the total, probably not enough to influence Spanish foreign policy in Brexit negotiations.

The second biggest group are the followed by the Germans who account for 9% of total purchasers by foreigners.

Why now is the Right Time to Buy Property in Spain http://www.thelocal.es/20170209/why-now-is-the-time-to-buy-a-property-in-spain Published 10th Feb – Some interesting discussion about the movement of salaries and interest rates and claiming that now is the good time to buy property in Spain from a cyclical point of view.

Discover the Price of any home in Spain: https://www.euroweeklynews.com/2017/02/04/did-you-know/ Published 5th Feb – According to this article Bankia has launched a free tool that gives you the market price of any property in Spain. It could be interesting and a useful tool to compliment a detailed analysis and market knowledge but I would caution strongly against taking the claims too literally.

Building Permits up by 32.5% in Spain: http://spanishnewstoday.com/building-permits-up-by-32.5-per-cent-in-spain_85126-a.html Published 2nd Feb -This article says building permits are up by 32% The Spanish are very good at National Statistics of this kind so these figures can be believed. It’s good news. The article puts the headline in perspective by pointing out that total construction activity is still about 15% of what it was at the height of the boom.

Catella Positive Outlook for Spanish Real Estate Markets: http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/catella-positive-outlook-for-spanish-real-estate-markets-612117923.html Published 31st Jan – fairly general comment based on general indicators that the Spanish property market is improving.

Spanish Mortgage Activity Up by 32% in November: http://spanishnewstoday.com/spanish-mortgage-activity-up-by-32-per-cent-in-november_84952-a.html Published Jan 28 – not much more said in the article beyond the headline – interesting though.

Scandinavian and Central European Markets Dispel the Shadow of Brexit on the Costa del Sol’s Real Estate Sector: http://www.satprnews.com/2017/01/26/scandinavian-and-central-european-markets-dispel-the-shadow-of-%C2%91brexit%C2%92-on-the-costa-del-sol%C2%92s-real-estate-sector/ Published 27th Jan – article is saying that increased sales from other European countries make up the difference in the fall of sales from the UK as a result of fears over Brexit. I am not sure whether there is much to be said here beyond the fact that the Costa del Sol is an international property market. It’s the California of Europe with a unique set of attractions as a holiday home / retirement location. Other countries have some but not all of these qualities.

Spain’s property sector is recovering: 400000 operations could be reached in 2016: http://thecorner.eu/spain-economy/property-sector-recovering-operations-reach-2016/61055/ Published Jan 14th – a report on increased volume in the market and a prediction for the year based on that.

Banco Popular sells 620 million euros in loans to Blackstone, Apollo http://www.reuters.com/article/us-banco-popular-assets-idUSKBN14W1VC Published 13th Jan – Banco Popular has shed over 600€m of non performing property loans to American investors – the article doesnt say much more than this.

Spanish property prices remain stable: https://www.propertyinvestortoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2017/1/spanish-property-prices-remain-stable Published Jan 6th – Fairly brief article summarising some useful analysis concluding what the headline says and pointing out that whatever the national figures say it is important for investors to pay attention to local market conditions. The sensible and intelligent tone of the article contrasts with other articles of exaggerated hype that I havnt bothered to publish.

Spain’s banks recover but toxic assets remain: http://www.thelocal.es/20170104/spains-banks-recover-but-toxic-assets-remain Published 5th Jan – article is basically saying that Spanish banks have made considerable progress in improving their balance sheets which is good news for all of us.

Spanish new-build property prices up by 3.3 per cent in 2016: http://spanishnewstoday.com/spanish-new_build-property-prices-up-by-3.3-per-cent-in-2016_84110-a.html Published Jan 4th – The article states that property prices on new builds are up 3%. While I wouldn’t want to question the size and direction of the trend I would caution against the too literal use of these statistics without understanding the source. Prices are distorted by many things for example finance offers.