steviedeluxe

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2010...g-house-prices

Interesting article, and some very interesting comments below.

wilki

show me a house that was 300 grand and its now 150. or any place that is advertised at 50% less.than it was.

bil

Well, where we are there are an awful lot of new built stuff, commercial and domestic that are still un sold/rented.

megmet

Well here's one that belongs to some friends of ours.
http://www.beautifulyoo.com/

It started off at 163,000 ... after being for sale for four years and them having to go back to the UK it's now for sale at 95,000.
It's a very nice apartment in Alora and it's very surprising it's not sold before now.

pwwm

one around here, 5 beds load of land was 200k now 90k.

missile

Looks like a very nice appartment. Do you know how much did they paid for it?

agoreira

Yes, it does look nice, so even after a substantial reduction, it's a wonder it hasn't sold. Is there a reason for that? Something they aren't telling us? It looks ideal as a holiday home.

steviedeluxe

I think we're all in agreement - that looks a very nice property for the price, especially as it has 2 double and 1 single bedroom.
Just shows there will now be some excellent bargains around.

cricketman

It's in Alora

Its sweltering in the summer, cold in the winter and not much going on at all. A flat in that kind of location should be dirt cheap. This one looks like a nice flat, so I think its up for a realistic price, although if you were going to live in Alora most people would want a house with land rather than a flat. Living in a flat in the campo is a bit weird.

There are some lovely reservoirs close by though to go swimming in the summer

steviedeluxe

Even so, 95,000 Euros, which is currently 81,000 pounds...

goes away to study bank account

missile

Location, location, location

scampicat

There is a little house in our village, it is immaculate and the owners only want 100k euros for it, an ideal holiday home, two beds, two baths, but no-one has even been to look at it. It has been for sale since September.

I think it is getting people through the door that is the problem, especially Brits who are suffering from the exchange rate. You might have a bit more luck with Dutch, German or Scandinavian.

But also people don't see Spain as a good place to buy a house any more, they think their house is going to be knocked down, or they will be swindled in some other way...

The Spanish powers that be have done it to themselves, I'm afraid, with all the corruption that is now becoming known in the UK, and obviously this will affect any sales of expat's houses.

We are trying to do some lateral thinking about innovative ways to sell our house in the next year or two..

cricketman

For £80k, you can buy a family house where I am from, in the North of England.

£80k is still a lot of money. That is over 3 times average salary for the UK and probably eight times average salary for Alora.

cricketman

I actually think it has a LOT more to do with the British housing and mortgage market. People dont have any equity in their homes anymore that will allow them to buy a house in Spain. How do you think all the British funded their Spanish homes in the first place? It wasnt through having high powered jobs with great salaries.

And new mortgages are hard to come by, require a large deposit and have relatively high interest rates compared to the BoE rate. Couple that with the feeling of pesimism that is worldwide and someone would have to be very brave or foolish to buy in Spain at the minute. Prices still have to come down 30-50% until I'll buy (which I think they will in the next 2 years). In the meantime rents are cheap and seem to be getting cheaper every month

scampicat

No, I know that, but I think people who have the money will spend it elsewhere, or not at all.

We bought our house, for cash, for 51k euros in 2003 and then the one next door for 17k euros in 2004. We do not have any sort of mortgage. I would be loathe, however, knowing what I do now, to invest my money here now. (although AFAIK both houses are perfectly legal). I'd buy a holiday home in the UK instead, albeit a chalet or studio!