The Helicópteros Sanitarios Puerto Banús HQ

Well, in many respects you could say it always has been of course… but now more so than ever before because I’m delighted to be able to tell you that all new clients purchasing a home through VIVA now receive one year’s free membership to Helicópteros Sanitarios – the Costa del Sol’s leading rapid response Home Doctor & Medical Emergency Service.

The Helicópteros Sanitarios medical teams have responded to almost 852,000 calls for assistance and have saved more than 14,460 lives in the last 23 years which is a truly remarkable achievement…

Continue Reading

OK, so for ‘cats’ read British expats and if you really want to split hairs, well 75.9% is admittedly a whisker or two less than the actual figure. But before you think I’ve lost the plot, I’ll explain…

A recent survey for Telegraph Expat shows that when 1,000 British citizens were asked to rate their overseas homes in the top 10 most popular expat destinations, on factors ranging from quality of life to the cost of living, no fewer than 75.9 per cent – the highest score – said they were happier in Spain than in Britain…

Continue Reading

Widely reported and commented on across the Spanish and other media such as internet forums this past week, has been the confirmation by the Málaga Association of Builders & Developers (ACP) that more than 10,000 new-build units have been sold during 2011, out of what was reported to be an unsold stock in the Málaga province of some 20,000 units.

What we all have felt in the market is that of course tides turn, and when it comes to the law of supply and demand, well if you don’t build any new projects then eventually – as in the early to mid 90s – there comes again a shortage and a real demand, and off we go to a new cycle.

You might say that this is still a way off. But not really. Lead times in construction tend to be 3-5 years from initiation of a project to completion. Think about that… no new product coming to the market for 5 years. At VIVA, we have already seen double digit growth in 2011 and we’re seeing a fabulous start to the year in property sales every day.

What does happen in prime areas such as Marbella and the Costa del Sol in just five years’ time, when all our stock will have been long ago sold and everyone then competes for properties coming to the market?

And how well might today’s buyer feel at that time.

Well, this was the official news recently released by Tinsa which provides an index as to property prices and other real estate information across Spain. But really, we ourselves could have told you exactly the same thing more than a year ago.

The problem with the ‘official’ version of facts is the time lag that it takes to get them out into the market, as in fact, we would say that completed sale prices today – against asking prices at peak – are more likely near 40% down from that peak, and we often see certain types of properties selling for 50% below peak today.

What is important, however, is the true picture of when the bottom of the market has been reached. That point, or moment in time, when our buyers all have a certainty that prices will not fall any further. Well, we won’t guarantee that this is a fact across all markets, and we can only talk about certain prime areas of the Costa del Sol, but we certainly believe that in the case of all the properties we are completing sales on at present, these prices will not go lower; we know that we are at the bottom of the market.

Though you probably won’t read that ‘officially’ for a while yet, when you do read it, in our view prices will have already started to begin their eventual rise.

If you are buying, there has never before been a moment or a market like it. But it is incredibly important that you buy the right property, for the right reasons and at that all-important right price.

An article in the Daily Mail reports on how Spain comes out 45th in a league table of 51 countries in relation to their house price falls. Now is this a bad thing?

Not at all! In fact, if you read the article to the end, they state the obvious, that the turmoil in property prices faced particularly by the likes of Ireland (51st) and Spain, is actually a confirmation that these housing markets are over the worst.

We have never been ones to bury our head in the sand at VIVA. If it’s bad we face up to it, and we don’t talk the market up either, because it’s not our role. We simply help buyers acquire the right home at the right price, whatever the prevailing market conditions. But I have to say, it’s ohhh… so nice to be able to point to a whole variety of indicators that demonstrate we are at the bottom of our own crisis, that we are facing recovery and, well, an end to a pretty tough past six years really.

So, don’t shoot us for being happy about that.

Although Spain was the most popular property destination for almost all of last year, according to TheMoveChannel.com, there was a bit of a wobble for a while. Then in December there was an about turn as British buyers fell out of love with US real estate, and with enquiries for property on the other side of the pond plunging by 7.32% last month, it was relegated from 1st to 4th place.

Still, with enquiries about Spanish property falling by a barely noticeable 0.18%, Spain immediately shot back to the top of the list. Elsewhere in Europe, Portugal climbed from 4th to 2nd place with 9.15% of total enquiries, while France remained in 3rd place with enquiries up by 1.05%.

“As 2011 ends, the fluctuations in the Top 10 show the changing buyer demands in an uncertain market,” says Don Johnson, TheMoveChannel’s MD. “Spain has always been a traditional choice for lifestyle buyers, as shown by the constant level of interest in the country… so its return to the top spot seems an appropriate end to the year.”

Further afield, Barbados and Morocco entered the Top 10 for the first time, while the UAE jumped eight places to finish 12th.     

According to a recent report from the Bank of Spain, the latest figures currently available show that overseas investment in Spanish real estate soared by 27.8% up to September 2011 – compared with the same period in 2010 – with the transactions made during that time amounting to €3,601 million.

A separate report, by Spain’s daily newspaper El Mundo, also states that for the first time since 2008, overall investments during the three consecutive quarters were in excess of €1,000 million, while in the third quarter of 2011 foreign investment in Spanish property totalled €1,164 million – up a substantial 19.2% on figures for the same period in 2010.

Decorhaus: now up to 70% discount

With three furniture superstores – one in Mijas Costa and two in Málaga – together totalling over a huge 12,000m2 of room displays, Decorhaus, as their marketing director Manuel Tejada explains, prides itself on “choice, quality, service and a highly competitive pricing policy”. And, right now, to make sure your money goes further still…

Continue Reading

For more than 20 years, chairman and president of DM Properties, Diana Morales, has been a keen observer of the changes taking place in Spain in general and Marbella in particular, especially within the property sector.

Every year we eagerly anticipate reading Diana Morales’ annual Marbella Real Estate Market Report.

This year it seemed to come to us a bit later than usual, I guess because Diana was watching the market carefully and no doubt checking how the land was lying before fully committing to her Report.

We have even waited a few weeks ourselves, for the whole ‘eurozone crisis’ to settle itself back down, before presenting her Report to our own blog and website visitors.

Regardless as ever, whenever it comes, Diana’s Report is always an excellent piece of work and, as every year, we have no hesitation in providing a link to it.

While DM Properties and VIVA of course operate in the same geographical area, our respective markets are, however, quite different…

Continue Reading

The new marina will be funded entirely by private investment

It was way back in 2006 that plans to build a marina in La Cala were first drawn up, and at last they’ve just been approved by the Junta de Andalucía, meaning that the municipality of Mijas can now join the towns of Fuengirola, Benalmádena, Málaga, Marbella, Estepona, Manilva and Sotogrande – all of whom have boasted their own yacht harbours for a good many years.

The new marina…

Continue Reading