Spanish Second Home Market Redefines Itself

Spanish Second Home Market Redefines Itself

Costa del sol continues to lead the way in property sales and rentals

There’s no such thing as a “typical” overseas buyer when it comes to Spanish property. For every millionaire looking for property in La Zagaleta, there’s the average Joe that has worked hard to finally invest in an overseas property.

However, it’s well known statistics can be manipulated to tell any story, which is what happened with real estate portal Donpiso. The results are interesting to say the least.

The data shows that an average holiday home in Spain costs €200,000, is o the or near the coast, and is purchased by couples between 35 and 49 years old, with children and a regular monthly income of at least €3,500.

The cheapest coastal region in Spain to purchase property is Murcia, where the average holiday home costs just €150,000. The figure increases as you move across the Costa Dorada. Costa Brava and Costa Blanca with those buying second homes on the Costa del Sol spending an average of €350,000.

It’s true that you really can do anything with statistics. Even though house prices do rise on the Costa del Sol faster than anywhere else since the beginning of the recovery, €350,000 is still higher than the average price one would be paying for a home in the area.

The figure is skewed as Marbella is where the most expensive postcode in the country is found, along with many exclusive neighbourhoods and urbanisations packed with luxury homes. In the more affordable areas of the region, buyers can get a property for the bargain price of around €200,000.

Other trends related to dates show that the summer is the busiest time for buying holiday homes, while demand cools off during the run up to the Christmas holidays.

Another study from Marbella Property Group praised the Spanish property sector, stating that the industry has undergone a major transformation as of late with higher employment levels, an increase in disposable income, and a rise in consumer confidence boosting housing demand, along with the 20.2% increase in mortgage lending in March of 2017 compared to last year.

Spanish Property Prices Increase 5.6% in Second Quarter

Spanish Property Prices Increase 5.6% in Second Quarter

Property prices continue to rise and recover

from the 2009 crisis

It’s difficult to put together an accurate figure that tells all about the current state of Spanish property prices. Not only is there regional variation to contend with, but there are also a range of different metrics used, including average mortgage loans and recorded transaction prices.

Perhaps the most accurate metric would be the price per square metre of residential property. This data is monitored by the central statistics unit of the Spanish government, which last week revealed that the average cost of a square metre of Spanish property rose 5.6% in the second quarter of this year compared to the second quarter of last year. 

There were higher price increases in some regions compared to others. An encouraging bit of news is that 16 of the 17 autonomous regions of Spain registered increases in property prices. Madrid and Catalonia topped the tables with respective increases of 10.9% and 9.3%. 

At the bottom of the table came Castilla-La Mancha, Murcia, and Extremadura; recording respective gains of 0.8%, 0.3%, and 0.4%. 

The national increase is right in the middle of the prediction of 4 – 7% annual increases made by Spanish banks just last week. It’s also a reflection of the general health of the Spanish property market, which is seeing a steady increase in the amount of sales.

Spain Maintains Second Highest Life Expectancy in the World

Spain Maintains Second Highest Life Expectancy in the World

With the sun 320 days a year and the healthy life style its

no wonder the Spanish and its aging residents

live longer than Northern Europe 

The latest statistics from OECD suggest that the average life expectancy reached 83.2 years in Spain for 2016, meaning that Spain has the second highest life expectancy in the world after Japan.

In Japan the life expectancy is a slightly longer 83.4 years, but Spain is one of the healthiest nations in the world and offers the best chance of living a long and healthy life.

The data from the OECD census says that Spain has over 100,000 people who are older than 100. News outlet Reuters sent out their reporters to interview some of these people and find out how they live such long and healthy lives.

Some of the answers were the usual ones of “laugh, love, andeat well in Spain”, and then there were more intriguing answers. 106-year old Pedro Rodríguez swears that the secret to his longevity has been music as he has been playing the piano every day since he first learned how when he was young.

112-year old Francisco Núñez lives with his 81-year-old daughter at her home after shrugging off the local pensioners’ daycare; complaining that it had too many old people. 101-year-old Gumersindo Cubo suggests exploring his local woods as a child gave him the fortitude needed to live past 100. He attributes his long life to the pine resin he would inhale in the woods as a child, saying his mother would put a jar of it under his bed when he was sick.

Comas points out that all the people he talked to had their own strong support network of family and friends living by them, which is likely another reason they were able to reach such an old age. The Spanish approach of “family first”, which is also seen in Japan, is one of the main reasons Spanish people lead such long lives. Loneliness can be a real killer in the west but, as people grow older in Spain, their bonds only strengthen.

This, alongside the varied and healthy Mediterranean diet of Spain are what keeps the people there in fighting fit shape. Of course the welcoming climate and leisurely pace of life in the country also helps in creating a society that enjoys rich, long lives.

Property Sales in Spain Reach Second-Highest For Five Years During Third Quarter

Property Sales in Spain Reach Second-Highest For Five Years During Third Quarter

The Costa del Sol and Spain continue its property recovery

The latest data from the Spanish property registrar shows that a total of 103,055 homes traded hands in Spain between July and the end of September; representing the second-best quarterly performance in Spain for five years.

When compared to the third quarter of 2015 there were 11.1% more homes sold in the third quarter of 2016 as the property market became more active during 2016.

The third quarter was also up 4.4% over the second quarter of 2016 and showed the trend of each quarter being stronger than the last has continued since it began in 2010.

When you look at the 12 months leading to September there were 394,000 homes sold in Spain overall. This is an increase of 13.2% over the previous 12 months. 2015 itself was also a continuation of the growth the market saw in 2014, which is when the property market began to recover from years of contraction.

To look back even further shows that the amount of homes sold throughout Spain in the third quarter is the second-best quarter for five years; beaten out only by the fourth quarter of 2011 in which there was a mass fire sale of distressed properties.

Many experts expect that this upward trend will continue on into 2017 and the years after; thanks to the economic recovery of Spain and the consistent appeal the country has for being a premier destination for going on holiday and purchasing property to the people of Europe and the world as a whole.

Not everyone was feeling the positivity however as the data showed that the average price for property sold in the third quarter was 1.4% the average price from the second quarter.

Experts explained away the shrinking average price – prices in Spain have been increasing for around 18 months now – saying that it was mostly due to a shrinking number of new build homes being sold. New build homes are usually more expensive than a resale home and so they can provide the average sale price with a healthy boost.

The data from the registrar shows that only 17.1% of the homes sold in the third quarter were new builds, which was down from the 21% from the quarter before.

Even though there was a small fall in the average property price your average home in Spain is still being sold for around 3.3% more than it was this time in 2015.

Spain Second Best Place for Expats to Live According to HSBC Poll

Spain Second Best Place for Expats to Live According to HSBC Poll

Spain and the Costa del Sol continues to attract

expats looking for a better quality of life and a low cost of living.

If you want your experience as an expat to be one of fun, safety, and relaxation then you should definitely consider Spain. HSBC recently ran their latest Expat Explorer Survey and it showed that Spain was ranked second globally. Spain did particularly well when it comes to health, culture, the quality of life, cost of living and the Spanish social life.

Even though Singapore came first again Spain still showed that it was a country that was able to deliver things that matter to expats. They were ranked first when it comes to health and second on categories relating to the quality of life and the social life.

Spain came in 16^th place overall out of the 66 countries included. Spain was let down it’s below average ranking in economic performance; especially career progression, wage growth, and job security.

Most people who are considering moving to Spain would feel that it ticks every box for them if they don’t need to work though. This is why retirees have always loved Spain, as have families who want access to great healthcare, a good climate, and a fun and varied social life.

The HSBC survey takes countries and ranks them across the three main categories of economics, experience, and family. Each category also has several sub-categories. Spain came in second overall in the Experience section (New Zealand came first), and did well in each sub-category including property, safety, integration, making friends, and culture. It also came in fifth in the Family category, with Sweden coming first. Spain performed well in tolerance, childcare, education and integration.

When it came to money Switzerland was king as over 30% of expats living in Switzerland earned over $200,000. The UK stuck to their reputation of being about as average as possible; coming in 20^th and neither failing nor exceeding in anything. London itself at least performed well when it came to job prospects.

The data from this survey shows that there are three kinds of expats; there are those who move for work, those who move for family, and those looking for a higher quality of life. If family and life are what matter to you then Spain is the place for you.

Spanish construction industry Reaches Five Year High Thank to British Second Home Buyers

Spanish construction industry Reaches Five Year High Thank to British Second Home Buyers

Buying property off plan is coming back into fashion as the

demand is returning

Almost half of the Brits buying second homes find themselves drawn to the sun, sea and sand of the Costa del Sol. So much so that a study has shown the number of new builds being approved in Spain has hit a five year high.

The Ministry of Public Works published figures showing that new home licenses in Spain has gone up by 57.1%. This led to a total number of 16,782 new build licenses approved in the first three months of 2016, an increase over last year and the best quarterly result seen since 2011.

The study says that the reason behind the boom in residential construction has been caused because overseas buyers are coming back to the Spanish market once more. Demand from overseas buyers for Spanish properties is on the rise, with a lot of that demand coming from neighbouring European countries.

The leading homebuilder in Spain, Taylor Wimpey España says that the total number of sales so far this year is up compared to last year, with an increase in British buyers of 48%.

With more Brits looking to make their place in the Spanish sun the Costa del Sol has become the most popular choice. Nearly half of these foreign buyers are choosing to purchase property in the region.

The sales and marketing director for Taylor Wimpey España, Marc Pritchard, believes that this summer will be just as scorching for the real estate sector with momentum continuing to build in the market.

He says that construction in Spain is on the rise as the foreign demand is strengthening the real estate market as a whole.

The Costa del Sol has always been the region of choice for Spanish holiday homes and it is taking up that role once more with British people making it their location of choice for second homes.

With British buyers choosing the southern coast of Spain for their homes the optimism the Spanish people feel towards the market increases. It’s expected that these positive trends will continue on for the rest of the year.

Spanish emerges as second most widely used language on social networking sites

Spanish emerges as second most widely used language on social networking sites

Spanish is the second most widely used language

In a recent study, it was found that Spanish is the second most used language in social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, after English.

English, also known as lingua franca of the world, and has the largest number of speakers with most of the speakers using it as second language in most of the countries spread across Europe and Asia.

The second place faced tough competition between Chinese, French and Spanish in unofficial surveys. However, as per the new data, Spanish has emerged as the winner.

There are 470 million native Spanish speakers spread across the world, while 21 million people are learning Spanish in language schools. Due to the high number of people knowing Spanish, it has emerged as the second most widely used language in Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter after English.

Of all the internet traffic, Spanish is the third widely used language after English and Chinese, whereas in social networking sites, Spanish is seeing a rapid growth, registering a growth of over 1,100% since the start of this millennium, as per the study conducted by Instituto Cervantes.

A total of 7.2% of the world population speak Spanish and it is expected to increase to 7.5% by 2020. As per an estimate, within three generations, one in ten people worldwide would be able to speak Spanish.

However, English is also leading as the Chinese are also learning English. In the long run, Spanish will also prove to be important and people who travel to Spain and the costa del sol among other countries in the vicinity will be expected to learn Spanish. Surprisingly, the number of Spanish speakers in the American continents is also increasing at a gradual pace.

Any tourist coming to spain can find many places to teach Spanish by visiting the tourist information centres in Spain.