Property prices continue to rise.........
As we have predicted, property values have continued to rise
steadily, official figures show an increase of 23 per cent
in Malaga area, and up to 20% in other areas. Although the
largest rise has been seen in re-sale homes, the price of new
property has also risen throughout the whole of Spain, by an average
14.2 per cent.
Official government figures show that it now costs an average
72 percent more to buy a property than it did four years ago.
- Experts in the Government and at the Banco de Espana have
attributed the reason for such strong growth is due to a number
of factors, which include:
- Higher wages in general
The market demand for property from the Spanish market who want
to own their own homes rather than rent.
- it is far cheaper to buy than rent, even for long term
- The increasing practice of buying property as an investment,
short term rental income being very attractive in the face of
low interest rates and poor stock market performance.
- More and cheaper flights to Malaga from Northern Europe
(more about this later).
- Low mortgage interest rates, a reduction in mortgage
rates means that more people are now buying property preference
to renting long term. The official MIBOR rate from the Banco
de Espana now stands at its lowest ever, 3.24 per cent, while
the average bank rate of the savings banks is 4.9 per cent.
We and many experts believe the property growth will continue,
steadily beyond the next 12 months, particularly on the Costa
del Sol west [Malaga to Sotogrande] and the area around Coin,
Alhaurin el Grande and Alora, where more and more ex-pats from
other European countries are deciding to settle.
Another recent bank report predicts that prices will continue
to rise by at least 15 per cent to the end of 2003, others are
more optimistic, we predict around 20% on resale properties plus
the additional growth made on property purchased under construction.
Airport passengers
A good indication of the fact that the global tourism recession
has not affected the Costa del Sol is the number of passengers
who have used Malaga Airport during the month of September: 1.1
million, 2.9 per cent more than in September 2001. During the
same period a total of 9,732 flights either landed at or took
off from Malaga Airport, 1.5 per cent up on last year.
More Americans choose to buy a second home on the Costa
Highlighted at the recent residential tourism fair in Marbella,
Tures Andalucia, North Americans are becoming more and more interested
in buying a holiday home on the Costa del Sol, the American market
represents a major investment for the tourism industry, but the
British and the Belgians are still the biggest property purchasers.
Unlike other property investors, the British and the Germans are
more particular about the quality of their surroundings than about
the specific area where they are planning to purchase a property.
contact us by email
