Spanish Property Woes continue
Spain’s property market is a mess. Even the most hardened estate agent would have trouble persuading anyone that Spain was a good investment at the moment. (If there were any left in Spain.) And for once, every one agrees. These are some recent headlines from around the world regarding the state of the Spanish property investment market.
The International Herald Tribune reports that there is “No end in sight for troubles in Spain.”
The Financial Times recently reported that Martinsa Fadesa, one of Spain’s largest property companies filed for creditor protection.
Reuters has an interesting list of facts about the current bust. Spain's troubled property sector. Most interesting of which is the fact that approximately 60% of Spain's estate agents have closed.
Another one from Reuters suggesting Spanish house prices may fall as much as another 25-30%
The Daily Telegraph says, "Spain drops it's reassuring gloss," with Spanish finance minister, Pedro Solbes admitting that Spain is facing the worst economic crisis in it's history.
Unlike the United States, the Spanish government is unlikely to do anything to bail out investment companies that took huge risks on the back of an artificial property boom, although Mish's Global Economic Trends reminds us that the Chinese government is the top foreign holder of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bonds.
A good time to buy in Spain ? We don't think so - another 12-18 months to run we feel, and the Spanish investment property market will be a very different animal to the past model once things settle down.
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Comments on Spanish Property Woes continue
Living in Barcelona, I can attest to the troubling Spanish housing market and it doesn’t seem like things are going to get better for quite a while. A lot of the hype of buying in Spain over the past years has been fueled by speculative purchases by foreign investors (primarily English and German) which is now almost non-existent and the housing market is feeling the effects (coupled with what’s happening with the economy and capital markets).
We have our own version of Miami here =)