The Ultimate Homes Blog

Spanish Property: Profiting from Weak Sterling | Latest Spanish Property news from Kyero.com Shared via AddThis Sterling has had a wild ride this summer, hitting people with second homes on the Continent as well as holidaymakers. The pound tumbled early last week after the Bank of England said the credit crunch may have damaged its long-term value. It later rallied when the minutes of the Bank’s monetary policy committee were more bullish on the economy than expected, but fell to end the week at €1.09, a near six-month low, after governor Mervyn King said a weak pound was good for exporters. Consumers are being offered myriad ways to protect themselves from sterling’s volatility — from forward contracts that let you fix your exchange rate if you are buying property overseas, to currency mortgages that promise to cut your debt. However, brokers are notoriously bad at calling the market, so do these schemes really work? Here, we offer advice: WHAT’S THE OUTLOOK? The pound has proved huge...

Now only 225.000 Euros. Detached villa reduced by 44.000 Euros - now a great opportunity to purchase a two bedroom villa located within the La Sella Golf Resort, close to Denia. Built in 1999 and in inmaculate condition, this villa has been converted into a two bedroom (originally three) to provide comfortable living space. From the lounge, access is given to the terrace and the garden with lush lawns and a 8 x 4m pool. The views to the golf course and the natural park Montgó are fantastic. A covered parking place is also included beside the entrance to the plot. La Sella Golf Resort is a well established golfing resort located close to the coastal towns of Javea and Denia. The first nine holes of the golf course were inaugurated in 1990 and extended to 18 holes in 1992. At present work is being carried out to add a further 9 holes and is expected to be completed in summer 2009 when La Sella Golf Resort can boast in having the first 27 hole golf course on the Costa Blanca. The resort o...

During the second quarter of 2009, 112,886 properties were purchased in Spain, which represents an INCREASE of 7.8% with respect to the previous first quarter of the year, according to data released by the Ministerio de Vivienda last week. Of course, being positive news, it has largely gone unnoticed, or commentators have decided to focus on the fact that sales are still down compared to the second quarter of 2008. My feeling it is about time that everybody started feeling a bit more positive about our business. Even the Spanish President, Zapatero knows that Spain will not recover without the real-estate market pushing ahead so we may some "breaks" in the near future.

Two interesting points worth raising as to what has been happening this summer in the housing market are one; the spectacular rise in stock market prices of listed property companies during the month of August, and two; more investment vehicles are being created to invest in the property market now, as many feel that prices may have bottomed. The stock-market rally has seen several listed real estate firms, led by Reyal Urbis, benefit from increases of up to 250 percent in their respective stock market price. This situation has been repeated throughout the rest of Europe too. Regarding the future of property investment, three world leaders in the industry, Sam Zell, Hines and Gerald Ronson, have recently created investment vehicles to seize the opportunities that this market currently offers, as they perceive that prices will not go much lower. Add to this the many investment institutions, especially those with private capital, and a significant number of American traded REITs which h...

The cost of property relative to income, known as housing affordability, has improved sharply this year as Spanish property prices have tumbled with the housing crisis. The percentage of annual gross income that Spanish families have to spend on financing the purchase of a home (taking into account tax deductions) has fallen from 40.3% in June last year to 31% now, according to new figures from the Bank of Spain. The housing affordability ratio deteriorated from 20% in September 1999 to 43% in September 2008. As a rule of thumb experts recommend that families spend no more than 33% of income financing the cost of buying their home. Taking into account the recent improvement, the housing affordability ratio is now back to where it was in September 2006. As a result, a typical Spanish family buying in the second quarter of the year had to spend 6.8 years of gross income to buy a home of 94m2. Of course the housing affordability ratio is only improving for those people in Spain who still ...