Everyone want Spanish property

Spain is still one of the most popular overseas property markets among Britons, a new poll has found.

14 per cent of those who were thinking of buying a second home abroad had considered the Spanish market.

Meanwhile, more than a quarter of those who already had a second property abroad were found to own a home in Spain.

Most of these were bought for investment purposes, although the study showed that some were using it as part of their retirement plan.

The accessibility of Spain from the UK was one of its major attributes, along with its stable economy.

Most buyers have a simple desire to enjoy spending time in holiday homes & flats in a country that offers an excellent climate and attractive lifestyle.

According to research by Yorkshire Bank, the Costa Blanca and the Costa del Sol are the two most popular parts of Spain with British buyers.

Cheers! INVEST, INVEST, INVEST!!!

The Mortgage Monster

The combination of the highest relative property values in the world with the highest official interest rates naturally produce high home loan repayments.

Just how high and how painful is now becoming more than obvious. Anecdotal reports of rising repossessions and a huge increase in forced sales are now spreading from so-called blue collar suburbs to properties in the $1 million to $5 million valuation range.

Mortgage stress is spreading across all cities, suburbs and demographics.

Overgeared families are obviously the most vulnerable but wealthier Australians are now being caught as they liquidate assets to meet margin calls on highly leveraged share portfolios caught in the equities downturn.

The latest research from Fujitsu Consulting claims more than 900,000 Australians will suffer mortgage stress by September, 400,000 of those will be in severe stress and 80,000 could lose their flats because they can’t meet the loan repayments.

Severe stress is defined as being unable to meet repayments without refinancing, with many having to put repayments on their credit card.

They are sobering figures. Yet probably the scariest finding from the Fujitsu report is that once someone is in severe stress there is a 20 per cent chance of being forced to sell the property and there is only a 50 per cent chance of getting out of mortgage stress altogether.

Cheers!

Increasing bad loans a worry for Indian banks

The rising bad loans are set to pose a huge challenge in the next few years for the banking and finance industry. Banks have already stopped or tightened lending norms for consumer finance and auto loans for fear of higher defaults. Rising interest rates have increased the possibilities of defaults, particularly among customers holding credit cards.

There has been a slight increase in delinquencies for the bank in the credit card and personal loan segments. But the medium-term outlook remains positive.

ICICI Bank, the leader in retail lending in India, is expecting retail lending this year to grow 5-10% after frenetic growth in the last couple of years. Credit growth will do better at 16%. But she denied higher interest rates will have an impact on the bank’s loan portfolio. Business growth for the industry may be impacted, but not ICICI’s loan quality. The bank’s net non-performing assets have increased to 1.74% of total assets in the quarter ended June 2008 from 1.33% in the same period earlier. No flats my friends, not yet!!!

Cheers

Expansion at Spanish airports

Two major airports in Spain are set to be expanded, potentially boosting the country’s property market and tourist industry.

The Spanish government has approved plans to extend the operating hours at San Javier Airport in Murcia, as well as the use of another runway.

However, flats in the immediate area will have to be soundproofed before the work is completed in order to reduce the noise for people living nearby.

Meanwhile, a new runway is set to be built at Malaga Airport, which is already having a new terminal building constructed.

The runway is set to be completed within two years, prompting experts at Homes Worldwide to predict that Malaga could be an investment hotspot in 2010.

The average property value in Spain has risen by 100 per cent since 2002, beating the continent-wide average of 40 per cent.

Comment please!!! Cheers!

Internet? Yes, please

Overseas investors could benefit from choosing a location equipped with broadband internet access, after a new poll highlighted the importance of the web to many expats.

Almost three-quarters of Britons living abroad used the internet each day to contact family and friends in the UK.

In addition, 40 per cent of overseas buyers were said to go online for at least an hour seven days a week.

Many were also found to use the internet for other reasons, such as banking and keeping up to date with current affairs.

Being distanced from the UK, are reliant on it to keep in touch with family and friends in their own flats, monitor the news and manage their finances.

The firm added that the internet enabled them to carry out these tasks regardless of where they were in the world.

Approximately 345,000 British people moved overseas in the year to July 2007, according to official figures.

Take care!

Spanish inflation implicates more countries

The rate of growth in the Spanish property market is continuing to outpace many other European countries, according to a new report.

Inflation was slowing down across much of the continent, flats prices in Spain continued to grow at a strong rate.

Figures showed that during the last year, the price of property in Spain increased by five per cent.

This rate of house price inflation is much higher than in many other European countries, suggesting that overseas investors hoping for capital appreciation could still profit from the Spanish market.

During the same period, prices in the Republic of Ireland rose by just 0.9 per cent.

In addition, there was also a fall in the average price increases in Denmark, Switzerland, the Netherlands and France.

The study concurs with recent research by Halifax, which found that growth in the Spanish property market had outpaced other countries in the eurozone since 2002.

Flatiron

Small Spanish cities benefit from regional airports

Many towns and cities have benefited from being located near regional airports, an expert has said.

Neil Weston from the British Air Transport Association said that regional airports had made foreign destinations more accessible to those in the area, including holidaymakers and property investors.

He added that the immediate area often saw further material benefits beyond people being able to travel more, buy flats, houses, whatever, such as improvements to the local infrastructure.

Mr Weston continued: “If the services don’t work then airlines won’t run them. If they don’t have enough passengers then they won’t be running them.”

He stated that the benefits applied in the case of both UK airports and those in other countries, as these areas had benefited from extra tourism and investment.

This comes after the Airport Operators Association praised regional airports for making overseas travel more convenient for many people.

Cheers mates!