mfesharne

Quite true.

We made a close to asking price offer on a house about 18 months ago & despite it having been on the market for at least 9 months beforehand the offer was refused.

A year later it was still on the market but the asking price had gone up 30% & now a further 6 months on, it's still on the market at an even higher price.

Domino

a friend of mine in Spain says they have the same problem of parental assets and he says that on paper he may be seen by some as a very wealthy man
but when you have a one eightieth (1/80) share of a quarter of an acre then it really doesn't count for much. Even at €157 a metre for urban land. And even when you own several of those eightieths.

then there is the problem of any property that sits on it. Great grandad died there decades ago, no one wants to pay to clear it, no one wants to fix the sagging roof. half of the people concerned haven't been in touch for years so are they still alive. So it is stalemate.
and every once in a while someone else dies and the eightieth becomes a ninetieth or something

who said owning a property was easy

Jon-Bxl

Errrr, I think you need to take care here, 'we're in the s**t but not as deep as the other guy' ...... so be content.

We live on Costa Esuri, huge problems, like everywhere else. However, there is a great community, lots of wonderful people and within 5 minutes we can enjoy 2 countries. All of us spend time and enjoy being in both countries. We recently got a taxi and had a blow out time in Portugal lots of fun and the total cost taxi included was amazingly small. We regularly go to the fiestas in Spain and there are wonderful things to do there, being on the border gives us options many dont have. Eg restos, social, culture, beaches etc etc

The Spanish banks and the new 'bad bank' have taken over many properties and selling them cheap. Meaning we are attracting more locals that can perhaps afford the properties easier than expats, so we are becoming multicultural... and many properties have been sold. It also means that even though we have personally 'lost' a lot of money in values, someone else can get a great deal in a wonderful part of the world.

On the expat forum for years now the moderators realised that we were a highly active community and even created a special forum for us called The Ayamonte Club on the Spain forum and we have our its own special place right on the top. Check it out. This is rare right across the BE expat forum.. we have our own place on the forum to discuss things. We may not always get along, but we are a community.

I am not saying it is nirvana here, there are loads of problems, I dont care to hear that others problems are less than mine - nor do I care to feel good when others are worse off... There are huge social problems in Spain and Portugal (and other countries) as a result of this crisis.... and the real shame are the people who cant feed their kids, cant get a job, have to go to a foodbank. I take NO comfort in the fact that they are worst off than me.

This crisis has hit us hard... we are lucky however to have a second home in Costa Esuri... Of all my badly performing 'investments' Costa Esuri is the best, we live there, use it, have fun there ourselves and with our friends.... Far better than e.g some underperforming pension fund which is red on a PC screen!

Jon

EMR

Acrooss the river in PT , the CE developments have had a lot of bad press with a " if you think it is bad here etc ". I do know of at least two families who originally looked at CE and ISla Canela and bought in Portugal even though the prices and costs were higher.
I think your area does suffer from a lack of identity. having been on the receiving end of avalanches promotional material, seen loads of advertising golf companies, rental agencies, tourist companies etc referring to it as the " Spanish Algarve " has not helped.
The lack of a local airport Faro being the gateway for most means that propsective visitors see the real Algarve before arrving at what in Portuguese terms are mega developments.
CE/Canela has to have its profile raised as a destinaton in its own right.

EsuriJohn

whilst CE ACTUALLY AVOIDED BANKRUPTCY the development across the river Quinta do Vale has actually gone bankrupt and the future for a wonderful golf course is far from certain. Also Castro Marim golf is not clear of the threat yet!

EsuriJohn

It would be stupid to build another airport closer, even in the boom years when it was talked about at Gibraleon nobody would fund it. CE is 35 mins from Faro and 90 mins from Sevilla both significant International airports with lots of continental flights and the occasional inter continental flight why would another be necessary or cost justified.

The "Spanish Algarve" a term the Spanish do not recognise for the western part of the Costa del Luz and is not liked by the Spanish who come down in great numbers from inland cities for the summer. They own far more properties along the coast than Northern Europeans and it has always been a real Spanish destination a bit like Monte Gordo for the Portuguese.

EMR

Don,t have a go at me , its the tour , golf and promotional companies who use the term " Spanish Algarve " .
Knowledge of Spain other than the costas is pretty poor n the UK, we know of someone who booked a holiday to Mojacar convinced she was going to Majorca.
To promote it as Costa Esuri and expect a public saturated with other holiday or second home choices would not have been a logical marketing move. However as the Spanish Algarve at least they know where on the map to look.

mrtrumper

I would have thought that this was a good thing! Ayamonte is a beautiful, colourful and interesting town - far nicer than any of the towns that you drive past on your way from Faro airport - seeing the scrattier, dirtier and less interesting towns and villages on route makes Ayamonte seem even better.

Any right thinking person would choose esuri over the vast majority of developments on the 'real algarve' Presently esuri represents tremendous value for money and with the Spanish buying, units are shifting far quicker than in most parts of Portugal.

As well as being large, esuri is properly planned and spaced out, a feature that many of the Portuguese resorts would do well to think about. I can only think that anybody who knocks this fine region of spain from their Portuguese pillbox is only annoyed that they have paid too much for their property without properly exploring the region.

A big worry at the moment for the both the Spanish and Portuguese property markets is the political and economic stability. That said I would much rather be on the Spanish side of the border than on the Portuguese.

EsuriJohn

CE is at least 7km from the nearest beach it was just a marketing name similar to the oak grove developments in UK. The real name on legal documents is Puente Esuri the "Bridge at Esuri". Esuri comes from the Phonecians who settled this area before the Romans.

Not one of Fadesa's promotional documents mentions the word Algarve and they were and are a major Spanish company. It was only the greedy English "Agents" who wrongly used the term.

pdr

I find that comment a little offensive, but I don't intend to get into a war of words on a "my place is better than yours" basis. I chose Portugal because I prefer it to Spain, plain and simple. I'm sure Costa Esuri is very nice, but I've seen it develop almost from the start, and have never been attracted to it. That doesn't mean I'm not a right thinking person, and I am definitely not annoyed about the price I paid for my property. If things are improving in Spain, I'm pleased to hear it as the last few years have been most frustrating for everybody. Portugal will continue to struggle for some years yet I think, but it's not enough to persuade me to cross the river.

Anyway the OP's original question was about property prices in Portugal, not Spain so it's not relevant.

Mitzyboy

Which is exactly what has happened unfortunately.
Lets leave that behind everyone, and discuss the original subject as pdr rightly points out

bejaboz

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but it is offensive to suggest people are not right minded because they chose the Algarve to Esuri. Also to suppose people in PT are annoyed because they paid too much for their property is a rather sweeping generalisation. The saying "to each their own" applies, as everyone makes their own decisions based on their personal needs.

We eventually bought an hour north of the Algarve, because we preferred a mainly Portuguese community rather than a British holiday resort, but we started looking all along the Spanish coast from Murcia and worked our way down to the PT border and nearly bought a house close to Villablanca, but the builder couldn't convince us the house was an approved build as there were no permissions or licences, so we continued looking. The area there is attractive, but no better than where we are now. We didn't want to live in Esuri as it was not the sort of development that suited us. But I'm sure it's the right place for many, as is the Algarve.

Jon-Bxl

I felt I had to reply to the post re CE problems and I think we've hashed it out. I am really delighted that others in any part of the world are happy with their purchase, albeit I think all of us that bought before the crisis hit are at least disappointed that the prices have dropped so far in Spain and Portugal. Doesn't change the fact that we enjoy our homes....

Actually as people are positive about their locations, and we are not so far apart, it is another tick in the box for the area! A short drive away and you can find some real gems - in TWO countries, even in this s**t-awful crisis!

Going back to prices

I wonder if there is a regional variation of price drops.

So for example has the East Algarve dropped more than the West. Also the Alentejo coast/silver coast has it dropped more.. Or do the inland locations take the brunt of price falls???

As we are on the Portugal forum, I'm picturing a map in my mind, of Portugal with different areas with a price drop figure. E.g (and this is totally made up) East Algarve -40%. West Algarve -35%; Alentejo coast -30% etc etc.

Is it logical to do this? Or is it just a blanket fall across the board?

Jon

PS Gut feel tells me that Spain prices have dropped more so this is not a competitive thing, just a genuine request to understand the pricing level across the country as per topic

s5tuart

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/f...s-growing.html

and the latest area info I could find......1 year old
http://www.globalpropertyguide.com/E.../Price-History

Jon-Bxl

Interesting thanks S5tuart.

The Map I was imagining is the same as in the Spanish article - but here it is surplus property as opposed to my price drops.

Looks like Alentejo and Centro are the worst hit, but nowhere near as badly as Spain. What surprised me - gut feel wise - is that they say there wasnt a price boom in Portugal going back to 2002 and that actually the prices saw conservative growth... just surprised me. I looked in Portugal and even had my offer accepted, but it fell through. I remember getting all the free inspection trips etc lots of communication from agents in Portugal as much as Spain. My friend and I did a 10 day visit to Spain / Portugal and between us we bought in both.

As a result, with hindsight, Brits buying in Portugal would not have seen a big drop in Sterling as the rates have changed so much. If you bought at say 1.40 and its now 1.16. You can 'swallow' a c. 17% price drop and end up with the same in sterling (not taking into account opportunity costs, annual costs - just the final price. This is not an accounting exercise ).

According to the article no-one has seen an 18% drop since the peak... so the problem is not so bad in Portugal. Well done!

Does mean that there may be an interesting buying opportunity in Spain... bit no rush as prices may well drop more...

Thanks
Jon