I wonder if most of them were bought by individual families or possibly snapped up in large blocks by already filthy rich, in the know, property investors, seeing a golden opportunity to make a killing from tenants with limited options and finance.

It would be one quite feasible explanation for the quick turnover.

Only asking like.

Actually it's a very good question. I'd like to know the make-up of the buyers too. The ElMundo articles did interview some buyers, but we have no way of knowing if they were representative.
Given the location I doubt they are good places to rent out, which is why I feel it's probably families seeking a reasonably priced home. But yes, there could well be speculators and/or landlords who've swooped in.

Well if I was into it on a more sizable scale, I might look on it as a golden opportunity.
Brand new property at a knock down price, when the market is close to the bottom, in the vicinity of a big city, probably a good long term investment.
Buy blocks of apts close together, easy to manage and very few maintainance and repair bills for quite a few years, a very big bonus for landlords.
Could afford to dump some older properties at knock down prices and rent the new ones out at very attractive rates.
No doubt many tenants living in deteriorating old edificios in even scruffier areas would be attracted by a brand new start in a brand new apt.

It's a knife edge thing - do you praise Spain to encourage more immigrants, which I normally do, or do you tell the truth to save fellow expats a few bob?

I'm going for the latter, too many Brits have come over and lost their life's savings on the Spanish property market.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/0...82Q02J20120327

11% down in the last quarter of 2011, and another 30% fall forecast for this year.

Sorry.

I think HBG has got the wrong end of the stick. No-one to my knowledge is stating this is the start of milk and honey, nor that property is now a sure bet if you want to make money - see the first line of the first post

Seseña is not even a place I can imagine Brits wanting to live in. But again, once the price is at a reasonable level, it seems you get buyers. Even if as some have stated, they are speculators/property investors. Problem is, that many private buyers can't sell at "reasonable levels" because they bought in the boom years. Lower prices are great news for those who want to buy a home now, but obviously less good news for those who bought at the peak.

Wouldn't they be wiser to invest in all the successful spanish co's that stevie keeps telling us about

I just gave my opinion based on what little info is shown in this thread, so possibly I could be way off the mark, as I haven't even seen the place, nor do I know the area at all.
Somehow though based on previous experiences, I think maybe there are possible opportunities in such a situation.

Looking at the worst scenario,I don't see prices ever dropping much below those shown above for brand new properties.

On the other hand now that families are moving in, some sort of community can be established bringing with it the need for some basic infrastructure, so opportunities can well arise for such as small shops, bars and other minor businesses to move in, which in turn will encourage more ppl. to take advantage of what's still on offer at reasonable prices, eventually making it a more pleasant location to live and thereby stabilising or in the long term increasing the present low property values.
It may only have needed the first new residents and property investors to set the ball rolling and help buck the trend, which I admit in general countrywide is unlikely to change for quite a while yet.

I've seen better looking apartments in East Berlin, a legacy from Russian rule.

There's a forum for Seseña residents here, may be able to see what type of person has moved in.

http://www.forosesena.com/

Interesting - they're looking for an English teacher - may be of interest to Madrid or Toledo based teachers with transport

http://www.forosesena.com/empleo/815...de-ingles.html

Most of them already live in such places, many of which are getting a bit dilapitated, so for those it could well be a step up.

In addition the Spanish in general usually seem quite happy with that type of accomodation, noise, hustle bustle and all.

Good point. Outside of London, flats and apartments don't seem so popular with the English. In Glasgow and Edinburgh it's fine to move into an apartment, but in most of England people seem to prefer the old 2 up 2 down house over a flat.

I've lived in flats several times over the last three decades or so, never for long and not my favourite to be honest but served their purpose at the time. London was lonely, hard to strike up a chat, the States was much more friendly and Cyprus was just an 'open door' sort of living, neighbours children would think nothing of walking in and taking fruit from the fridge (best 'hello' and 'thank you'); came home one day and the lady next door was beating the rugs from my lounge because 'You have no woman to do it for you' (I was on my own there for three months); a lovely couple and we kept in touch for years until her hubby passed away in 2005.

That said Stevie, more and more apartments have been built in the UK the last decade or so, big improvements over the post WW2/60's tower blocks that seemed to kill community spirit.

its not just the flats but remember the underground silence, with flat pan faces, eyes downcast, twisting and turning to keep the amount of personal contact to the absolute minimum ?? Then a couple of "foreigners" get on and chatter away ten to the dozen in their own language despite all the dirty looks from the locals ??

London - one of the most unfriendly cities I had the "pleasure" to live and work in.

Depends whereabouts in London you are. I'm certainly no fan of the place or any other big city come to that and I understand what you say about the underground effect which is not unique to London.
However I have a property in the suburbs where my daughter lives and I've usually found the locals there quite sociable during my occasional visits, though as in similar cities it has it's share of hard cases and foreigners whose English is very limited.

Strangely enough some Swedish friends of mine visited London a couple of years back and the thing they were most impressed with by far was the friendliness and helpfulness of the people they met.
Not sure if thats a true reflection of London or the general standoffishness of their own people back home.

Dick, perhaps my commuting experience is the thing I remember most.
But, both I and BH have agreed that London could actually be a better place to live than in the sticks.
As a city it is made up of dozens of little community areas, each individual, each with its own shops, people, in just the same way as we are now experiencing in Spain.
Out in the sticks it is locked doors, snooty people who don't even wave when driving past in their Chelsea Tractors.