european housing markets

ringers

Does anyone know how the euro house price markets are performing? particularly France and Spain.
Are they expecting a crash?
Is now the time to invest?

pamaris

Crash or no crash, an equally important if not more important consideration is currency. Whether the pound drops or rises in relation to the euro would have a huge impact on how good an investment it would be. Who knows what it will be like in 10 or 20 years or whenever it will be time to cash in the property.

As far as a crash goes... I think many European countries are facing the same issues that the UK is due to the global credit bubble and subsequent crunch. If you want to invest, try something a bit more liquid and close to home like an investment trust or index tracking fund.

Generali

Spanish and French prices seem to be falling gently at the mo.

FWIW, my prediction for France is that prices in the prime 2nd home market (e.g. Nice, Cannes, rural Provence, nicer bits of the Alps, northern bits hand for the tunnel) will fall fast and hard with no real impact on the locals as financial types get smaller bonuses on the back of smaller profits. The bits where the French live and work should be mostly unaffected is my guess.

Having said that, the worldwide asset bubble is a bubble of proportions that the world has never seen before IMO. House prices have about doubled in almost any country you care to mention. Check out what's happened to the price of emerging market shares or commodities (it's not all down to the Yellow Peril I reckon) or fine wines or collectable stamps and coins or art.

Its pricking could well cause financial turmoil on a scale never seen. Or not of course.

Big Bank (my employers for the next week) refuse to put a prediction on property prices. I don't know why but I have my suspicions.

aytch

Hi
up until a year ago we had a property in Spain, we sold our flat just in time as the spanish property market is steadily dropping. We have friends in Spain who are estate agents and due to the continuous buildings work they are selling very little due to their being more properties than buyers.
So, if you are looking for a long term investment now might be a good time as sooner or later (their words) it will move up again, but they feel the period of sharp property price rises are past.
We also found renting our property became harder and harder as programmes such as 'Place in the Sun' made it sound like every property could get loads of income, multiply that by the huge number of people investing abroad and you get yet another flooded market.
We have since invested in Bulgaria, Montenegro and Slovenia - excellent bouyant markets .... at the moment.