Time to Buy a Property in Spain?

There have been several factors that have pointed towards the slowing in the decline of property prices within the Costa Del Sol over the last week. Although the signs provide, in some ways, encouraging news there is still the possibility of further falls given the overall poor state of the Spanish economy. There seems to be a north/south divide within the EU, with France and Germany leading the way out of reccession, then Italy and Spain lagging behind.

Tinsa, the large Spanish appraiser, produced some figures last week the showed a 9.2% decline in property prices over the last 12 months, a figure that has dropped, as it stood at 14% in April. This slowdown has been less impressive within some of the coastal areas, with a fall of up to 10.4% in some locations.

The popular tourist destinations have been the most sensitive to both price increases and falls during boom times investors and holiday home seekers pushed priced up, creating a bubble in the marketplace within popular areas. This lead to a steep decline, when the market finally slarted to slow in 2003.

Is this the time to buy property in Spain? Well there are some amazing properties around, for significantly lower prices than have been seen for several years. There have been a number of bankruptcies within the Costa Del Sol area, with prime property coming on the market at knock down prices in order to satisfy creditors. The guide prices on some of these auction properties are very low.There are also bargain properties to be found by building a strong relationship with a number of agents, who will keep you informed of any new, distressed properties are added to their portfolio.