So is now the time to buy property?
Well depending on which ‘experts’ you ask the answer if going to vary. Some are going to say yes while others say no. For myself and our office its quite simple. What sort of property are you looking for? What sort of budget do you have?
I cannot generalise about property and I try not to as it is difficult to back hard with hard facts. All I can say is this, quite a few enquiries are coming through to our website (more would be better though) and through other agencies looking for a variety of properties from Benalmadena to Marbella.
Who is buying at the moment? Well most of the enquiries seem to be for 2 types of clients. The immigrant or expatriate who is looking at making the move to spain, and the investor looking to snap up properties they feel are bargains.
Of course this refers to the ‘foreign’ market mainly. Looking at the national market we’re seeing people coming into our office who have been waiting for the last 2 or 3 years to buy and are now returning looking to see if the properties they want are finally within their budget.
So what sort of buyers have we been finding properties for? A few examples.
German couple looking for the lifestyle option. 2 bedroom, 500 metres from the beach, no more than 5 years old, garage, storage. From Benalmadena to Marbella max. 250.000 Euros
British couple looking for a 1,500 m2 plot of land from Torremolinos to Marbella. Must be very well priced.
A Russian couple looking for a holiday home up to 170.000 euros in Fuengirola or Mijas Costa.
And so on.
As most of you know the Costa del Sol has attracted all types of buyers an in the past we could have drawn up a similar client list. Maybe different nationalities or different budgets. The main difference has been in the shift of investors looking at off-plan to more established areas. Which is understandable as past investors were simply looking at making a return on someone buying their property prior to completion. Whereas now they are looking at making money over the longer term, and in the mean time enjoy the property as a holiday home or by renting it out.
So lots of buyers around then? No, I would be lying if I said otherwise. There are far fewer buyers around, but at the same time, the amount of agencies has decreased substantially through economic attrition, so that now service and product are what are keeping agencies like us afloat.
Regards
Andrew Belles
