Despite fears that sales would plunge after a hike in VAT on new home sales at the start of July, the Spanish property market had its best month in almost 2 years.
There were 38,838 home sales in July, up 15pc on the same time last year, and 16pc on the previous month, according to the monthly figures from the National Institute of Statistics.
Year to date (cumulative sales to end July), the market is 10.3pc bigger than last year, though still down 47pc compared to 2007.
On an annualised basis, sales have increased every month this year. If the figures are a true reflection of the market, that suggests that the worst is behind us, assuming there is no second act in this drama.
Surprisingly, sales of new homes leapt an annualised 21pc, and 26pc compared to June. I expected sales to plunge after an increase in VAT on new home sales came into effect at the start of the month.
Once again, new home sales were greater than resales, as they have been most months since the crisis began. In a normal market, resales should be bigger than new home sales. One explanation for this anomaly might be that banks are using a lending bias to off-load their new homes. Some banks are reported to be lending up to 100pc on new homes they have taken over from bankrupt developers.
Tags: Property market trends, Spanish property
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Euribor (12 months), the interest rate normally used to calculate mortgage repayments in Spain, has now risen for 5 consecutive months to its highest level in more than a year.
Euribor reached 1.421% in August, an increase of 3.5% on the previous month, and 6.5% higher than August last year.
As a result, borrowers on annually resetting mortgages will have to start paying more. Repayments on a typical annually resetting mortgage (150,000 Euros, 25 years) will rise by around 6 Euros/month, or 70 Euros/year, to around 594 Euros/month.
This is the first time that Euribor has risen on an annualised basis since October 2008, when the credit crunch first griped the markets. Interest rates then tumbled as central banks poured money into the banking system. Rates are now starting to rise as investors fret about a fiscal deficits and inflation.
Story by Mark Stucklin
Tags: Interest Rates, Mortgage Lending
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The Spanish house price index figures for August 2010 have just been released. See the graph and the table below for an up to date overview of the real estate market trend in Spain.
Spanish property prices are still falling, but by less with every passing month. Average Spanish property prices fell by 4.4% over 12 months to the end of June, show the latest figures. The rate of decline has been slowing since June 2009, when it peaked at -10.1%. If the trend towards smaller declines keeps up, average property prices will be stable, or even growing slightly before the end of the year. Prices have fallen the least over 12 months in coastal areas and the Islands, areas traditionally popular with foreign buyers looking for holiday and retirement homes. Prices are down just 3.0% on the coast.
The graph and table data represent the year-on-year evolution of Spanish property values. For example, if the value for August 2009 would be -3.9, then this means that average property prices in August 2009 are 3.9% lower than they were a year earlier, in August 2008.
The graph and table on this page contain up to date information for the past 13 months. For more information, please look at earlier monthly reports, or the historical overview since January 2001.
The graph and table data are based on actual property valuations, as established by one of Spain’s larget independent property valuation companies, Tinsa S.A. They are not based on asking prices or (under)declared selling prices, nor on the statistics as provided by the Spanish Ministry of Housing, and are therefore considered to be the most acurate and reliable source for this kind of information.
Tags: House price index, Property market trends
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Seven out of ten Britons who have retired abroad are happy with their new country and likely to stay there, a recent survey said.
Fewer than one in five who have gone to live in France, Portugal or Spain are considering returning home, it found.
The poll also found that nine out of ten of expat retirees live among the natives of their adopted country rather than among fellow Britons in communities of exiles.
The survey, carried out for NatWest bank, suggested that the trick to a happy retirement overseas may be planning ahead.
The highest levels of satisfaction were found among those who were employed in their new country before giving up work.
Among those in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the U.S. who worked in their chosen country before retiring, fewer than one in ten thought they might go back to Britain.
Nearly 150,000 British citizens left the country last year to live abroad, many of them after giving up work.
According to the survey, there are now an estimated 900,000 expat pensioners, with nearly 300,000 in Australia, 115,000 moving to Spain and just under 75,000 in France.
Dave Isley, from NatWest International Personal Banking, said: ‘Retiring abroad is still very much a popular choice and expats are happy with their chosen life paths.
It’s encouraging to see that the majority of expats believe they made the right decision in retiring abroad and are living their chosen dream. It is enlightening that 92 per cent of expats chose not to retire to a designated expat community.
‘This seems to emphasise the notion that expats have retained a sense of adventure.’
‘They really do want to start afresh and experience life as a local rather than settle with other expats.’
‘By immersing themselves in a full, enriched life as a local, retired expats can certainly learn and gain more from their time abroad.’
The survey also revealed that nearly six out of ten retirees abroad feel their experience has been better than they expected.
Only one in ten said retirement in a foreign country had proved worse than they thought it would be.
Among expat pensioners in France, Spain and Portugal, who mainly left Britain after they retired, just 16 per cent thought they might return.
The survey was carried out by the Centre for Future Studies among 1,300 retirees.
Story from Daily Mail
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The Spanish house price index figures for July 2010 have just been released. See the graph and the table below for an up to date overview of the real estate market trend in Spain.
The graph and table data represent the year-on-year evolution of Spanish property values. For example, if the value for August 2009 would be -3.9, then this means that average property prices in August 2009 are 3.9% lower than they were a year earlier, in August 2008.
The graph and table on this page contain up to date information for the past 13 months. For more information, please look at earlier monthly reports, or the historical overview since January 2001.
The graph and table data are based on actual property valuations, as established by one of Spain’s larget independent property valuation companies, Tinsa S.A. They are not based on asking prices or (under)declared selling prices, nor on the statistics as provided by the Spanish Ministry of Housing, and are therefore considered to be the most acurate and reliable source for this kind of information.
Tags: House price index, Property market trends
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A new report from Spain’s Property Registrars suggests that transactions – the lifeblood of the property market – are bottoming out, though it is still too early to declare a recovery under way.
The number of property deeds of sale inscribed in the property registry rose by 7% in Q1 compared to same period last year, according to the latest report from Spain’s College of Property Registrars. This is the first time in several years that annualised sales have risen in a quarter.
On a quarterly basis (Q4 2009 vs. Q1 2010), registered sales were up by healthy 16.3% (not adjusting for seasonal factors such as holidays), giving “the highest volume of transactions in the last year and a half,” says the report. After adjusting for seasonal factors, sales were up 1.83% in Q1, the first positive quarterly result after 15 consecutive quarterly declines.
Of the total 117,911 deeds inscribed in the register in Q1, 60,740 were new builds and 57,171 resales, a quarterly increase of 16% in new build sales, and 17% in resales. This points towards a “slow but steady recovery of the relative importance of resales, now 48.5% of the total,” says the report. On an annualised basis, resales were up 22% whilst new builds were down 4%.
Story by Mark Stucklin
Tags: buying property in Spain, Property market trends
Posted in Property market | No Comments »
The Spanish house price index figures for June 2010 have just been released. See the graph and the table below for an up to date overview of the real estate market trend in Spain.
Spanish property prices are still falling, but by less with every passing month. Average Spanish property prices fell by 4.4% over 12 months to the end of June, show the latest figures. The rate of decline has been slowing since June 2009, when it peaked at -10.1%. If the trend towards smaller declines keeps up, average property prices will be stable, or even growing slightly before the end of the year. Prices have fallen the least over 12 months in coastal areas and the Islands, areas traditionally popular with foreign buyers looking for holiday and retirement homes. Prices are down just 3.0% on the coast.
The graph and table data represent the year-on-year evolution of Spanish property values. For example, if the value for August 2009 would be -3.9, then this means that average property prices in August 2009 are 3.9% lower than they were a year earlier, in August 2008.
The graph and table on this page contain up to date information for the past 13 months. For more information, please look at earlier monthly reports, or the historical overview since January 2001.
The graph and table data are based on actual property valuations, as established by one of Spain’s larget independent property valuation companies, Tinsa S.A. They are not based on asking prices or (under)declared selling prices, nor on the statistics as provided by the Spanish Ministry of Housing, and are therefore considered to be the most acurate and reliable source for this kind of information.
Tags: House price index, Property market trends
Posted in Property market | No Comments »
The Spanish house price index figures for May 2010 have just been released. See the graph and the table below for an up to date overview of the real estate market trend in Spain.
Spanish property prices are still falling, but by less with every passing month. Average Spanish property prices fell by 4.4% over 12 months to the end of May, show the latest figures. The rate of decline has been slowing since June 2009, when it peaked at -10.1%. If the trend towards smaller declines keeps up, average property prices will be stable, or even growing slightly before the end of the year. Prices have fallen the least over 12 months in coastal areas and the Islands, areas traditionally popular with foreign buyers looking for holiday and retirement homes. Prices are down just 4.1% on the coast, and 2.4% in The Canaries and The Balearics.
The graph and table data represent the year-on-year evolution of Spanish property values. For example, if the value for August 2009 would be -3.9, then this means that average property prices in August 2009 are 3.9% lower than they were a year earlier, in August 2008.
The graph and table on this page contain up to date information for the past 13 months. For more information, please look at earlier monthly reports, or the historical overview since January 2001.
The graph and table data are based on actual property valuations, as established by one of Spain’s larget independent property valuation companies, Tinsa S.A. They are not based on asking prices or (under)declared selling prices, nor on the statistics as provided by the Spanish Ministry of Housing, and are therefore considered to be the most acurate and reliable source for this kind of information.
Tags: House price index, Property market trends
Posted in Property market | No Comments »
Euribor 12 months, the interest rate predominantly used to calculate mortgage payments in Spain, rose 2% in May compared to the previous month, taking it up to 1.249%, the highest level it has been since last September. This is the first time since July 2008 that Euribor has risen for 2 consecutive months.
Despite rising for 2 months, Euribor is still not far above the record low of 1.215 it hit in March. It is still 24% lower than it was a year ago, and 77% lower than it was in July 2008. Because Euribor is still lower than it was a year ago, repayments on a typical annually resetting mortgage (120,000 Euros, 25 years, Euribor +0.8%) will fall to around €510/month, saving 24 Euros a month, or 288 Euros a year. If Euribor keeps rising, it won’t be long now before borrowers starting seeing their monthly payments increase, albeit modestly at first.
Euribor is an interbank lending rate based on interest rates set by the European Central Bank (ECB). Base rates are currently at 1% but the ECB is expected to put them up during the course of 2010. Even though base rates haven’t yet been touched, Euribor is starting to rise as banks get nervous about the state of the economy and lending to each other.
Story by Mark Stucklin
Tags: Euribor, Interest Rates
Posted in Financial & Mortgages | No Comments »
Euribor (12 months), the interest rate normally used to calculate mortgage payments in Spain, rose 0.8% in April compared to the previous month, taking it back to 1.225% where it was in February. This is only the second time Euribor has risen on a monthly basis since September 2008.
Despite the rise in April, Euribor is still just a fraction above the record low it hit in March. It is still 31% lower than it was a year ago, and 77% lower than it was in July 2008. Because Euribor is still lower than it was a year ago, repayments on a typical annually resetting mortgage (120,000 Euros, 25 years, Euribor +0.8%) will fall by around 41 Euros a month, or 420 Euros a year.
Many experts think that Euribor has fallen as far as it can and expect rates to start rising modestly. It won’t be long now before borrowers starting seeing their monthly payments rise, albeit a small amount. Euribor is based on interest rates set by the European Central Bank. Base rates are currently at 1% but are expected to rise gradually during the course of 2010.
New mortgage lending rose 8.5% in February compared to the same month last year, according to figures from the National Institute of Statistics (INE). That is the second consecutive month of growth in mortgage lending, a good sign for the market. On a monthly basis there were 54,813 new mortgages signed in February, up 6.2% compared to January.
The average loan value was 118,185 Euros, a fall of 4.6% compared to last year. Overall new mortgage lending was 6.478 billion Euros, up 3.5% on last year. The average interest rate was 3.97, 26.5% below a year ago, and 2% lower than January.
Tags: Euribor, Interest Rates, Mortgage Lending
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