When to buy in Spain

armour

My partner and I have a "lifeplan" which includes retiring in Spain. Probably in the Malaga region. We are approaching 50 now and intend to retire between 7-12 years from now.
Given the unfolding economic situation in Europe, timing is going to be all important here. Has anyone got any opinions regarding this.

Is now a good time to buy?

Should we wait for the euro area to stabilise/break up?

What is the likely movement between sterling and the euro?

We would probably fund any purchase via a mortgage with a substantial deposit drawn from our residential offset mortgage savings pot.

My gut feeling is that there must be some bargains kicking around at the moment.
All opinions welcomed.

withabix

Prices in Spain are still plummeting and many sellers are over-optimistic.

Year-on-year fall in March was the highest so far (11.5%) across Spain. Med coast now 35% below 2007 peak.

Those who don't need to sell in holiday areas won't sell because they will lose so much there is little point.

Wait a while yet IMO.

As for a mortgage, I doubt you will get one on a Spanish property in a falling market - better to increase your UK mortgage if you have headroom.

If we knew the likely £:Euro rate movements, we would all be rich. My gut feeling is that the rate will stay close to where it is now, because the problems in the Euro zone will continue to damage the UK economy for years.

chucknorris

armour wrote: »

My partner and I have a "lifeplan" which includes retiring in Spain. Probably in the Malaga region. We are approaching 50 now and intend to retire between 7-12 years from now.
Given the unfolding economic situation in Europe, timing is going to be all important here. Has anyone got any opinions regarding this.

Is now a good time to buy?

Should we wait for the euro area to stabilise/break up?

What is the likely movement between sterling and the euro?

We would probably fund any purchase via a mortgage with a substantial deposit drawn from our residential offset mortgage savings pot.

My gut feeling is that there must be some bargains kicking around at the moment.
All opinions welcomed.

We are considering the same move in about the same timescale, although we would probably only be over there from late October to late April. We have a lot of exploring to do in the meantime including taking a look at the Algarve. Do you know what area of Spain you want to retire to?

I think there's plenty scope for prices to drop further in Spain (and the Algarve).

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

withabix wrote: »

As for a mortgage, I doubt you will get one on a Spanish property in a falling market - better to increase your UK mortgage if you have headroom..

Don't know if that's quite right.

I seem to recall reading a fair bit about Spanish banks offering cheap mortgages on their stock of a million or so bank owned properties just to get rid of them.

As for the OP, prices in Spain have a fair bit to fall yet. There's just too much surplus empty stock.

Generali

I would definitely wait to see how the current sovereign debt FUBAR works out before buying.

armour

Thanks for the responses.
I guess I'll wait 'n' see how the eurozone crisis unfolds (what's a FUBAR by the way?). I know it's impossible to call the bottom of any cycle but It's just that prices in Malaga seem a lot lower than they were and it would be a shame to miss out if they are near bottom.
Can anyone give a link to reliable historic and current Spanish house price data?
Chuck - we're looking at Malaga city centre (my gf's chioce, though I'd prefer something a little further out with a small pool)
Hamish - your post suggests that there may be a possibility of buying a repossessed property. Anyone know of any (Spanish property auction) websites?

chucknorris

armour wrote: »

Thanks for the responses.
I guess I'll wait 'n' see how the eurozone crisis unfolds (what's a FUBAR by the way?). I know it's impossible to call the bottom of any cycle but It's just that prices in Malaga seem a lot lower than they were and it would be a shame to miss out if they are near bottom.
Can anyone give a link to reliable historic and current Spanish house price data?
Chuck - we're looking at Malaga city centre (my gf's chioce, though I'd prefer something a little further out with a small pool)
Hamish - your post suggests that there may be a possibility of buying a repossessed property. Anyone know of any (Spanish property auction) websites?

We don't know that much about Spain yet, but our dog gets priority, so we want to end up somewhere where he can run about off lead with us on our bikes and on the beach. When we went to Lake Vinuela (North of Nerja) some sort of a uniformed ranger told us to get our dog on his lead and it was completely deserted, in fact he was the only other person we saw there.

I understand that dogs are not allowed on Spain's beaches but we heard that the Costa De La Luz is quiet in the winter months and we might be able to get away with it there. Also there is quite a long greenway there (converted railway lines for walkers/cyclists/riders).

StevieJ

It is all about the Euro, I pesonally wouldn't touch anything with the threat hanging over it at the moment. Having said that I have been waiting for four years

StevieJ

chucknorris wrote: »

We don't know that much about Spain yet, but our dog gets priority, so we want to end up somewhere where he can run about off lead with us on our bikes and on the beach. When we went to Lake Vinuela (North of Nerja) some sort of a uniformed ranger told us to get our dog on his lead and it was completely deserted, in fact he was the only other person we saw there.

.

I know someone wo lives up in them thar hills, they love it, but there has been the worry of confiscation due to previous housing irregularities (backhanders?).

chucknorris

StevieJ wrote: »

I know someone wo lives up in them thar hills, they love it, but there has been the worry of confiscation due to previous housing irregularities (backhanders?).

We actually stayed in Nerja but visited the lake because it looked to have decent traffic free cycle paths, which it did. Take away that ranger and it would have been a perfect day out for us.

downshifter98

Also worth keeping in mind that if the Euro was to break up or Spain left it the 'new' Peseta would most likely devalue by 20-30% against Sterling - now that would probably be a good time to buy but obviously not good if you are already holding.....