Houses and Condos cheap in Spain?

[El Cabron]

I was told in a different topic that houses and condos "could not sell at any price" in Spain.

Are they like crazy cheap now? I would not mind buying a house/condo near a beach or something in Spain.

Anyone here in Spain know?

Thanks

[MartinReynolds]

My aunt has 3 properties in Spain, she bought them at rock bottom prices. So many unfinished builds out there where they ran out of money due to no buyers. You can pick up a nice bargain but there is no telling when the market will pick up.

[tosku]

From what I've seen, properties on the south Mediterranean coast (Costa del Sol and so on) are still pretty expensive.

[MartinReynolds]

Depends, those places are pretty full with tourist. If you want a nice quiet place somewhere then they are generally cheaper. They have slightly risen tho.

[joesmoe2012]

Depends, those places are pretty full with tourist. If you want a nice quiet place somewhere then they are generally cheaper. They have slightly risen tho.

I also saw on BBC a guy bought a whole town for 25k Euro.

A condo honestly would be the best for my needs as I would not be there most of the time to take care of it.

Thanks.

Got a link by chance?

[pitchbend]

I'm Spanish.

Yes, real state prices have dropped, here you can see the average price drop chart: http://casas.facilisimo.com/preciometro/ and here you have more customizable charts http://www.fotocasa.es/indice-inmobiliario__fotocasa.aspx were you can select province and timespan.

A lot of developments in the coast are being sold at a loss and many Real State developers wen't bankrupt so banks are now struggling to sell those properties.

However, the Premium/luxury areas of Spain haven't seen such a significant impact from the general Real State price drop.

All in all, yes, it's a good time to buy, but choose wisely were you buy in Spain there are huge differences in quality between different provinces.

[Rampion]

It really depends, Goat - in absolute terms real estate is still VERY EXPENSIVE in Spain, in relative terms is very cheap as in some areas the price went down 70% when compared to 2006 (mostly on the sea side, where HUGE constructions where built because of the housing bubble, and now they are empty).

I say expensive in absolute terms, because a shitty flat in Madrid STILL costs +250K€. For many parts in the world, that's still a crazy price. A flat in a sea city, very very normal (average qualities, maximum 2 rooms, etc.), can still cost +150K€, which IMO is not "cheap" in absolute terms. It's still 10 years of full salary for the average Joe. Of course you can buy a flat in an abandoned "resort" for less, but I can guarantee you that pretty much sucks.

If you are really interested in it, drop me a PM and I will give you directions, I would gladly help.

Wikipedia info about the spanish housing bubble: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_property_bubble

An example of lots of abandoned sea-side construction: http://www.burbuja.info/inmobiliaria/burbuja-inmobiliaria/202508-heridas-inmobiliarias-costa-mediterranea-fotografias.html

[RodeoX]

Hmmm. this interests me as well. I think I need to learn a lot more about Spanish property laws and taxes. Is there a market for renting out properties owned by investors abroad?

[Rampion]

Hmmm. this interests me as well. I think I need to learn a lot more about Spanish property laws and taxes. Is there a market for renting out properties owned by investors abroad?

Yeah, of course. Anyhow you can check the biggest real state portal in spain, "idealista": http://www.idealista.com/en/

There you will have an idea of the pricing in different areas.

[RodeoX]

Hmmm. this interests me as well. I think I need to learn a lot more about Spanish property laws and taxes. Is there a market for renting out properties owned by investors abroad?

Yeah, of course. Anyhow you can check the biggest real state portal in spain, "idealista": http://www.idealista.com/en/

There you will have an idea of the pricing in different areas.

Thank you! 

[Apraksin]

A friend of mine just bought a house with four bedrooms, swimmingpool and a car for 130k euro near Torrevieja.

[Rampion]

In Thailand in a normal city I can buy a condo/flat for about $20K USD.

I would be interested in a normal city in Spain.

I would like to be near the sea or some sort of social city life. A ghost area would not work.

What sort of rate should I expect?

Thanks.

That's why I explained that houses are still VERY expensive in absolute terms. Here pople is used to take mortgages of AT LEAST 20 years to pay for them, and they are very used to mortgages of 40 years - that become the standards in the 2000s. And people devote 70% of their monthly net income to pay for the mortgage (and banks allow them to do so), so you can see how crazy is the situation in this shitty country.

As wikipedia says:

House ownership in Spain is above 80%. The desire to own one's own home was encouraged by governments in the 1960s and 70s, and has thus become part of the Spanish psyche

The bold part is so sad an stupid, but still true. Spaniards don't blink if they have to spend 70% of their income in a house for 40 years, and this is just so painfully stupid and sad... Because they always thought that "bricks will always hold value, in 2 years I can sell the house and make a 40% profit... I multiply the money I never had and that was loaned to me by a bank!"

And now they all got it in their asses. They still owe a HUGE debt to the bank, for all their lifetime, and their property is worth 50%.

About your specific question: no way you can buy a condo/flat for $20k in Spain. Forget about it. Check this page (http://www.idealista.com/en/) and you will see the different rates.

As an example: a flat in Nerja a very normal "Costa del Sol" city, still costs 350K€ for 120m2 (http://www.idealista.com/en/inmueble/1205503/). Of course you can get something for half of that in a "not so nice" place (Costa del Sol is one of the preferred vacation places for spaniards), but still don't even dream about a 2/3 rooms flat for less than 150K€ (if you want it new and in mint condition - of course you can get something MUCH cheaper if you're ok with an old construction in the centre of a smallish city near the sea).

[Rampion]

A friend of mine just bought a house with four bedrooms, swimmingpool and a car for 130k euro near Torrevieja.

seem pretty good but i dont know the area.

im looking for a studio, just enough for a computer desk, bed and small kitchen.

anyone have any idea on something like this?

id love to hang out in spain for a few months. or use this as a base to travel yurp.

greece might be better? what is the cheapest in euroland?

thanks

The Torrevieja deal is really nice, but I can guarantee you is not standard. Maybe the house really needed a lot of work and money in restructuring it, etc. The area is nice too, Apraksin friend made a good deal for spanish standards.

About your question: I can help you if you want. Here you have a very small studio in Torreviaje, old an stuff, for only 23K€. Not bad: http://www.idealista.com/en/inmueble/26012601/?xtmc=1_1_torrevieja&xtcr=10

Here you have a lot of flats on sale in Torrevieja, they are at least 50% cheaper than before the bubble burst: http://www.idealista.com/en/buscar/venta-viviendas/torrevieja/

Still, I wouldn't live in the centre of a small city like Torrevieja, IMO is quite depressing.

[Rampion]

A friend of mine just bought a house with four bedrooms, swimmingpool and a car for 130k euro near Torrevieja.

seem pretty good but i dont know the area.

im looking for a studio, just enough for a computer desk, bed and small kitchen.

anyone have any idea on something like this?

id love to hang out in spain for a few months. or use this as a base to travel yurp.

greece might be better? what is the cheapest in euroland?

thanks

The Torrevieja deal is really nice, but I can guarantee you is not standard. Maybe the house really needed a lot of work and money in restructuring it, etc. The area is nice too, Apraksin friend made a good deal for spanish standards.

About your question: I can help you if you want. Here you have a very small studio in Torreviaje, old an stuff, for only 23K€. Not bad: http://www.idealista.com/en/inmueble/26012601/?xtmc=1_1_torrevieja&xtcr=10

Here you have a lot of flats on sale in Torrevieja, they are at least 50% cheaper than before the bubble burst: http://www.idealista.com/en/buscar/venta-viviendas/torrevieja/

Still, I wouldn't live in the centre of a small city like Torrevieja, IMO is quite depressing.

Yeah that is what I am talking about. room is a bit small but I like how it is up high and there is a pool. I know nothing of the town and will look into it.

Really all i need is a bed, connection to Internet and a place to park a car. I'm not looking for a luxury house or anything.

What might worry me is crime rate.

Spain can be a place in deep deep crisis, but if there's something you should not worry about is criminality rate. Remember this is the "old europe", no one has guns, robberies are very rare and almost always non violent. Just to give you an exact figure: in 2012 we only had 390 murders in Spain, and 61 of this murders were commited by husbands who killed their wives. And this is a country of 50M inhabitants.

Seriously, criminality is the last thing you need to worry about if you want to move to Spain.

[Rampion]

In my opinion is bad. It's just old retired people who lives a hell of a life with their British Pounds retirement money. This is why I said living in a city like Torrevieja could be somewhat depressing.

If you buy something beautiful outside the city, that's cool. Near by you have places with a lot of social life, like Alicante for example. But if you really want a beautiful place with "real life" near by, and closer to the rest of Europe, I would personally recommend Catalonia. Living near by Barcelona is GREAT, and much more fun than living in Torrevieja or other small sea side city.

Another option is to go for Mallorca - that's an amazing island, it's really paradisiac. Formentera or Ibiza are even better, but they are MUCH expensier, so if you're target price is 25K I would forget about them.

But, in Mallorca you have the same problem as per Torrevieja - there is a huge population of old retired folks, in the case of Mallorca not from Britain but from Germany.

Really Goat, if you want help I would be glad to help you - it would be great to see you in Spain soon.

[Rampion]

Here info about Majorca: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mallorca

And here is info about Formentera, the paradise (is where I usually go for vacation): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formentera

Still, Formentera is very expensive, very very very expensive, it's like a paradise, so I wouldn't even look at it to buy a flat. If you come to Spain, you can always go and visit it, renting a flat four a couple of weeks (which is more affordable) - I would myself invite you with pleasure.

[Rampion]

In my opinion is bad. It's just old retired people who lives a hell of a life with their British Pounds retirement money. This is why I said living in a city like Torrevieja could be somewhat depressing.

If you buy something beautiful outside the city, that's cool. Near by you have places with a lot of social life, like Alicante for example. But if you really want a beautiful place with "real life" near by, and closer to the rest of Europe, I would personally recommend Catalonia. Living near by Barcelona is GREAT, and much more fun than living in Torrevieja or other small sea side city.

Another option is to go for Mallorca - that's an amazing island, it's really paradisiac. Formentera or Ibiza are even better, but they are MUCH expensier, so if you're target price is 25K I would forget about them.

But, in Mallorca you have the same problem as per Torrevieja - there is a huge population of old retired folks, in the case of Mallorca not from Britain but from Germany.

Really Goat, if you want help I would be glad to help you - it would be great to see you in Spain soon.

I can't do it soon but honestly it is either europe or south america when i get the chance. maybe 3 to 6 months. im just looking at all my options.

most people speak enough english in spain? girls happen to like americans? honestly have always wanted to go to spain so its something im very much looking into to.

thanks for all your help man.

Well, in the touristic places most of people speak english, which is not the case in the deep Spain - but you are not considering deep Spain, so the answer is yes, most people will speak enough english, even if it's going to be very bad and macarronic.

About girls... Don't know what to say, man. It's not like Asia, where you really see how girls are really into westerns... Well, here girls like americans, spaniards, italians, frenchmen... Whatever fits them

[Rampion]

Here info about Majorca: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mallorca

And here is info about Formentera, the paradise (is where I usually go for vacation): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formentera

Still, Formentera is very expensive, very very very expensive, it's like a paradise, so I wouldn't even look at it to buy a flat. If you come to Spain, you can always go and visit it, renting a flat four a couple of weeks (which is more affordable) - I would myself invite you with pleasure.

yeah if i buy, it would just be sort of a base to visit the rest of europe. id spend most of the time away seeing other countries. so just a single room is fine for the condo.

thanks for the invite man, if do hope i make it out there.

If you want it as a base to visit the rest of europe, you need a good connected airport near by. I would recommend Catalonia then, near Barcelona. You are also near to the border to France if you wish to rent a car and just travel around Europe. That's a great plan.

About 25% youth unemployment... You heard bad. It's 27.2% as per Q1 2013 (http://www.tradingeconomics.com/spain/unemployment-rate) and that's the TOTAL figure. Youth unemployment is much worse. Under 25 yo, unemployment rate is 55.9% (http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained/index.php/Unemployment_statistics)

Still, a lot of "black economy" in this country. A huge part of the tourism income (which is the first industry of the country, BTW), is "black economy". Youngsters work as waiters and they just don't declare shit. This is southern europe, man

[malevolent]

seem pretty good but i dont know the area.

im looking for a studio, just enough for a computer desk, bed and small kitchen.

anyone have any idea on something like this?

id love to hang out in spain for a few months. or use this as a base to travel yurp.

greece might be better? what is the cheapest in euroland?

thanks

If by Euroland you mean the part of European Union where the € currency is used then I think Slovakia and Estonia would be one of the cheapest.

If you were also interested in other EU countries but irrespective of currency used, Bulgaria and Romania should be very cheap

[Rampion]

seem pretty good but i dont know the area.

im looking for a studio, just enough for a computer desk, bed and small kitchen.

anyone have any idea on something like this?

id love to hang out in spain for a few months. or use this as a base to travel yurp.

greece might be better? what is the cheapest in euroland?

thanks

If by Euroland you mean the part of European Union where the € currency is used then I think Slovakia and Estonia would be one of the cheapest.

If you were also interested in other EU countries but irrespective of currency used, Bulgaria and Romania should be very cheap

I have talked to MP a lot about romania, not sure i want to live there.

I also know very well Romania - is of course a lot cheaper than Spain on average, but if you want to live with the same "standards" you would have in Spain the pricing is not so different. Yes, taxis are way cheaper, so is "local food", but good restaurants, cars, music clubs, or nice flats are not so differently priced in Bucharest than in the rest of Europe. Bulgaria is even cheaper than Romania - Slovakia and Estonia are more expensive than Bulgaria and Romania but still cheaper than Spain.

Regarding your original question - yes, Greece is somewhat cheaper than Spain too. Generally speaking about EURO countries, southern europe is cheaper than central and northern europe, just because the average wage is lower in the South, but there are notable exceptions in some aspects: for example, you will find a good flat much cheaper in Berlin than in Madrid, and this is because the fucked up mentality of spaniards regarding real estate that I tried to explain earlier.

Summing up, if you want a "headquarter" in a nice place, to then travel Europe, northeast of Spain (Catalonia) is a very nice and balanced choice. I would explore that.