A lot of changes are happening in the investment property world at the moment. The most alarming thing seems to be the introduction of yet more rules and regulations that will ultimately be applied only to the smaller investor and the increasingly apparent need of the governments to raise enough money to pay for bailing out the various industries and corporations deemed “too big to fail.”
Property prices in Spain fell 6.8% in the first quarter of 2009, the fastest rate of decline since records began, despite the fact that sales volumes dropped 39% over the preceding year. No surprises there – it is fair to say the data has been lagging well behind the figures for the last year or so. With unemployment in Spain pushing 20% and an average Spanish home costing around 7 times the average annual salary, we obviously have a ways to go before this correction is over.
