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The number of Brits purchasing real estate property abroad is going down drastically according to a joint study conducted by the global real estate service provider Savills and HomeAway.co.uk. The report shows that about 43 000 properties around the globe belong to UK citizens, the Bulgarian information agency Bulgarian Telegraph Agency informs Saturday.
In 2009, however, the number of Brits purchasing abroad is down 80% over the financial and economic crisis.
Purchases in exotic locations such as Cabo Verde, Bulgaria and Egypt are now a thing of the past, according to the company experts.
The report points out that UK citizens will turn again to the traditional destinations – Spain, Portugal, Italy and the US.
Source: novinite

Spain’s recession-plagued economy contracted for a sixth consecutive quarter in the last three months of 2009, although the rate of decline is easing, the Bank of Spain said Friday.

The 0.1 percent drop in gross domestic product is a blow to government predictions that the country would climb out of technical recession at the end of 2009, as other major European economies have.

Late Friday the government announced its latest proposals to try and stimulate the jobs market.

After a meeting with representatives of the country’s leading business federation and trade unions, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said his government would focus on creating employment for the young.

Zapatero said agreements should be arrived at with employers whereby workers could downshift to part-time work as well as making it easier to relocate people who had lost their jobs.

Zapatero said his government would aim to reduce benefits employers must pay in case of unemployment from 45 days pay for each year worked down to 33. However, the reduction would apply only in certain cases and not across the board.

The Spanish economy shrank 0.3 percent in the third quarter compared to the second, according to the government data.

For all of 2009, the bank estimated that Spain’s economy contracted 3.6 percent, in line with government forecasts.

The Bank of Spain’s figures are separate from the official figures published by the government, due out in the next few days.

Spain’s once-buoyant economy has wracked up six straight quarters of decline since third quarter of 2008 as a boom fueled by real estate construction and consumer spending collapsed. Unemployment now stands at nearly 20 percent.

The government’s ballooning deficit is an acute source of worry for investors and markets fretting over whether Spain could be in line for a debt crisis like the one in Greece.

The government had been hit by more bad news Thursday from a poll which said opposition conservatives would win if elections were held now. Zapatero has been in power since 2004.

The Popular Party now has a 3.8-point lead over his Socialists, up from 3.3 points in October, in the survey by the state-run Center for Sociological Research.

A record 82.7 percent of those polled now feel that unemployment, as opposed to violent Basque separatism or other issues, are Spain’s biggest problem, the poll said. A total of 2,500 people took part and the margin of error was 2 percentage points.

Source: inform.com

Southern Spain is too good to be true; it has a large desirable coastline, a fantastic natural environment, one of the healthiest climates in the world and is culturally rich. Its geographic location gives it easy reach from Northern Europe.

As a result there is simply nothing to beat a gorgeous Spanish Villa for holiday rental. A villa rental that has a pool and an air air conditioning san diego system is an absolute must in order to keep cool on those hot, lazy Mediterranean summer days. A holiday in Spain, in one of the Costa regions is what we would term enjoying the good life to the max.

A villa rental in the Costa Blanca region (white coast) is considered one of the premier locations on this coastline, as it offers a great climate and also has close proximity to its two major airports at Murcia (San Javier) and Alicante (El Altet) which are both well served by several budget airlines. The Costa Blanca offers several attractions and the nearby cities of Javea, Murcia, Alicante and Torrevieja offer plenty for the discerning tourist to enjoy.

A Costa Blanca villa rental generates high demand for many months of the year, especially between June and September, getting rented out on average for about 500 pounds a week. Rates do however vary according to size of property, amenities and of location.
The highest demand rentals in Costa Blanca are in the lush mountainous and up market resorts of Javea, Denia and Altea in the north, and the cheaper lower lying areas of Torrevieja, and Alicante in the south.

A coastal property with access to a communal pool will generate higher rental rates than a rural inland one with a private pool. The most luxurious villas have heated pools (for out of season), Jacuzzi, beautiful interiors/furniture and a daily maid service. To those with a monetary budget, most villas provide the essentials- satellite television (for English language), video/CD player, air air conditioning san diego and a microwave.

Once a delightful Costa Blanca villa rental has been discovered, it is time to start making travel and holiday arrangements. As the summer season is the most popular time to visit, it is strongly advisable to book flights well in advance. It must be remembered that fourteen million people visit the Costa’s each year and presently there are around two hundred thousand resident British people.

On arrival, it is best to hire a car as it gives you most flexibility and freedom. Driving here is easy. Just remember to stay on the right hand side of the road (if you come from UK!) If car hire is not your chosen mode of transport, then there are numerous buses, trains and even taxis to choose from.

One of the Costa Blanca’s greatest attractions is its abundance of nature. In Javea there is the natural park of Montgo, which is located right on the sea. This park contains some flora and fauna that makes it a fabulous world heritage site. To be seen here are several rare birds as well as hundreds of rare plant species.

In nearby, Benidorm there are several attractions for families with children, notably the theme parks of Terra Mitica for white knuckle rides, Aqualandia for water slides, and Mundomar, a marine animal park. Benidorm truly is Blackpool in the sun.

The Mar Menor, south of Torrevieja, is the biggest saltwater lagoon in Europe. It is truly fascinating and is also home to the world renowned La Manga club. The Mar Menor is actually a large piece of shallow sea which has been separated from the main Mediterranean Sea by a long narrow strip of land. It is those warm, sheltered waters which attracts visitors from all over the world to its health spa benefits.

The La Manga resort offers several luxury attractions, ranging from high class restaurants to top of the range sports facilities and casinos. If all the coastal attractions of the Costa Blanca are too much for you, why not try a villa rental in the countryside?

Inland country properties tend to have bigger plot sizes, perhaps with a few fruit orchards or even a tennis court for the lucky few. In the Costa Blanca, most rural properties are actually within 30 minutes from the coast and so hiring a car is a must.

The Costa Blanca, Spain is absolutely full of hidden gems, villa rentals on offer with delightful gardens, terraces and pool areas, in an area of outstanding natural beauty. It truly is an affordable dream holiday destination and definitely not out of reach for most families in the UK.

Source: zimbio

Office space in Bulgaria is struggling as much as the residential market, with a tough year ahead, according to a recent report by Cushman & Wakefield. For grade A, B and C office space, rental values were at their last peak in Q2 of 2008, with a steady decline since.

Against this, the vacancy rates have shot through the roof as the global economic crisis has deepened. Office rental in Bulgaria now rates at 54th in the world, with an average slip of around 20% in value over the past year. Office property in Sofia is now costing around €200 per sq meter a year.

It is not all gloom for real estate in Bulgaria as the company predicts a rising trend as the country emerges from the shadows later this year. Office valuation and rental are expected to reach their lowest point by the end of Q2, which means a relatively short window of opportunity for businesses looking to relocate or to buy investment property in Bulgaria.

It will also be around that time that the new law regarding deposit accounts come into force on property deals. This is going to make for a busy market in the weeks ahead.

Source: propertyworld

The number of foreign tourists arriving in Spain inched up in January from a year earlier, the industry ministry said on Monday, ending 18 consecutive months of decline for the key tourism sector.

The country received around 2.54 million foreign tourists last month, a 1.1 per cent increase over the same period in 2009 with Britain remaining Spain’s main source of visitors, accounting for one-fifth of all arrivals that month.

But while the number of arrivals of Britons, who have been hit by a fall in sterling’s value against the euro, fell by 8.1 per cent to 528,036 people, the number of German visitors rose by 6.3 per cent to 417,005. Germany was Spain’s second-largest source of visitors in January, accounting for 16.4 per cent of the total.

Tourism, which accounts for around 10 per cent of Spain’s economy, has taken a battering due to the global economic downturn and the emergence of cheaper sunshine destinations in the eastern Mediterranean like Turkey and Egypt.

The country received 52.5 million visitors in 2009, an 8.7 per cent decline over the previous year when Spain lost its ranking as the world’s second most visited country to the United States. In 2008 the number of visitors to Spain fell by 2.3 per cent over the previous year, its first reversal in tourist arrivals in more than a decade.

The Spanish government has increased the amount it will spend to promote the country abroad as a tourism destination by 6.4 per cent this year in response to the declining visitor numbers.

Source: straitstimes.com

The International Monetary Fund said Thursday that Spain’s fiscal challenges are not as severe as those faced by Greece, reinforcing the message that Madrid has been delivering to the world’s financial markets.

In its first official comment on the matter, the IMF told investors that Spain should not be placed in the same boat as debt-laden Greece.

“Regarding Spain, we do see differences between their circumstances and those of other parts of the euro area,” IMF spokesman David Hawley said, dismissing the idea that Greece’s financial woes could spread beyond its borders.

Hawley said Spain has robust economic statistics and institutions with a solid track record and credibility, adding that the Iberian nation also had strong fiscal starting positions prior to the global recession.

That assessment echoed the message Spanish Economy Secretary Jose Manuel Campa has brought to Paris and London and plans to reiterate at closed-door meetings with investors in New York and Boston.

Campa said in an interview with Efe-DowJones that when investors see that the diagnosis of the situation has been correct and that the measures that the Spanish government has taken are adequate, “it will generate a lot of reassurance.”

Spain’s investment waters were calmer Thursday after the government sold a 5-billion-euro 15-year bond the day before in an auction that was oversubscribed, proving – experts said – the government’s ability to raise financing.

The country paid a risk premium of 85 basis points in the bond issue over the benchmark swap rate. By comparison, the risk premium demanded by holders of 10-year Greek bonds over Germany’s 10-year benchmark bonds rose Thursday to 328 basis points.

Hawley stressed Thursday that Greece’s budget deficit woes date back to before the global recession, while Spain had a surplus equal to 2 percent of GDP at the start of the financial downturn.

Source: montesdemalaga

As property prices in Spain have tumbled in the economic winter, along with demand in the Spanish property market, coastal property remains top of the list for would-be buyers.

Of all property sectors within Spain, coastal development probably saw the largest activity at the height of the market, which now means a plethora of unfinished and currently unwanted sea side units. For those looking for sound profitable property to buy in Spain, long term gains can be had providing they know where to look.

Investors keen on a beach front property need to be aware of the legality of their potential investment, as just with land grab cases now, some developments are deemed to have broken the Coastal Law which places strict conditions on the siting of coastal developments. Reclamation and demolition are real threats to those that have infringed the legislation.

Profitability is down to picking a property which has the views but also the access to good, year round local amenities. Even now, demand is higher for these properties, which are holding a relatively good market value.

Source: propertyworld

Some parts of Spain are seeing property prices increase but some experts point out that it is affordability that will be a key to a recovery in the country’s real estate market.

According to Facilismo.com, Spain’s number one property portal, Murcia has posted the highest house price rises of all the nation’s autonomous regions at 0.24%.

This makes it one of a select quartet of communities showing positive growth in January 2010 with Valencia second at 0.11%, Cantabria third with 0.09% followed by the Basque Country with 0.06%.

Constantly surveying their listed properties and with almost seven million visitors to the portal in November 2009 alone, Facilismo.com is as well placed as any expert to make this claim, according to Chris Mercer, director of Mercers real estate agents.

The bigger picture though is slightly less rosy with overall prices falling 0.28% for January, but still a marked improvement on a fall of 0.57% for the same month in 2009. Thus, the overall feeling is that prices are stabilizing, according to Murcia based Mercer.

‘This shows a comforting trend towards a stabilization of the market and the prospect of further prices rises, at least in Murcia, over forthcoming months. I’m adamant that this market is the most price sensitive I have seen in 27 years dealing in Spanish real estate and this is why Murcia is emerging strongly,’ he explained.

From our Mazarron office we can offer a range of sub €100,000 properties, some detached on private plots, and they’re attracting plenty of buyers for obvious reasons,’ he added.

In contrast, according to Spanish property expert Mark Stucklin of Spanish Property Insight, property prices don’t really mean much unless you compare them to incomes, to get what is known as the housing affordability ratio, the proportion of annual gross income that families have to spend on financing the purchase of a home.

‘The housing affordability ratio in Spain has been going down but only really thanks to artificially and unsustainable low interest rates. By other measures, housing is still significantly over priced,’ he explained.

According to the latest figures from the Bank of Spain, the housing affordability ratio has fallen from a peak of 53% in the third quarter of 2008 to 29% in the final three months of 2009. So Spanish families have to dedicate just 29% of annual income to paying for their home, below the 33% limit recommended by experts,’ said Stucklin.

‘That’s great news for Spanish borrowers, at least for now. The problem is that the improvement is almost all down to record low interest rates, with Euribor currently around 1.22%, down from above 5% in 2008. As soon as interest rates start to rise, which they will, housing affordability could deteriorate rapidly,’ he added.

Another way, according to Stucklin, of looking at housing affordability is to compare house prices to annual disposable income, which gives you a sort of price/earnings ratio that ignores mortgage financing issues.

‘According to this ratio the housing market adjustment in Spain still has some way to go. It rose to 7.7 years at the height of the boom, and has now fallen back to seven years. But that is a long way off the historical average of four, which is where the ratio has dropped to in the US, where prices have fallen much faster,’ he said.

‘It would have been better if more of the improvement in affordability had come from declining house prices, rather than lower interest rates,’ he added.

Source: propertycommunity

Hotel-keepers in the southern Bulgarian town of Sandanski have claimed compensations in the amount of 180,000 levs for the losses incurred by the blockades of the Greek farmers at the border crossings with our southern neighbor. Maria Taushanova, secretary of the local association of the hotel and restaurant keepers and tour operators, said that the sum is just one-thirtieth of the actually incurred losses and future earnings. Only a small part of the booked night-stays were fulfilled during the Greek farmers? blockade, mostly by tourists who arrived by train.
According to Mrs. Taushanova, proving the hotel-keepers? losses is a difficult and complicated process, but the Greek farmers? protests certainly had a negative effect on tourism in Sandanski. Besides incurring significant losses to tourism industry in the town, the blockades created a feeling of insecurity in the guests of the southern town, and many of them are not sure if they will come back ever again.

Source: standartnews

Sunny Spain is no longer growing in popularity, whilst the USA and Egypt should be preparing for more and more tourists, according to new statistics from the UK’s fastest growing online independent travel agent. Tourist’s reasons for their destination likes and dislikes are also revealed.

When looking at the reasons behind the popularity of certain resorts, travel agency found that 59% of people didn’t find Spain as appealing because of the high density of English tourists and bars, claiming it was not foreign enough. USA, on the other hand, has seen bookings almost double and 48% said they would cross the pond just to try and meet a celebrity.

When asked if and why they would be put off visiting Tunisia on holiday, 2 respondents claimed they would prefer not to go because they were scared of camels. One person commented that they were less likely to holiday in the Canaries because they were afraid of birds, but Turkey was a hit with 11 people who said they’d go for the kebabs.

The top five destinations that have seen the biggest growth in popularity are:

1. Egypt
2. Greece
3. USA
4. Turkey
5. Portugal

The bottom five destinations that have seen the least growth in popularity on sunshine.co.uk are;

1. Malta
2. Canaries
3. Italy
4. Tunisia
5. Spain

Source: breakingtravelnews.com