Costa del Sol Property Guide Issue 1760

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BOOM: Modern homes are helping boost the housing market.

By Sally Underwood F you have ever wished you could predict the future of house prices, knowing exactly when is the right time to buy or sell, one company has put together advice from leading experts to help remove some of the guesswork from investing.

Property website Ide alista.com has spoken to leading consultants, bankers and valuers, to find out whether they agree with forecasts that Spain’s property market is due to increase by around 5 per cent this year.

David Martinez, a consultant at AEDAS Homes, explained: “The prospects for the future

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House price forecast 2019 of the real estate sector are good. We have a long and positive cycle ahead… based on a strong and sustained demand.”

He added: “2018 will be remembered as the year in which the housing market set a course towards standardisation - moderate growth - both in prices and purchases, and in the pace of construction, the three major fundamentals.”

2018 The year in which the market set a course towards standardisation.

The expert predicts: “For the new year, we expect and want healthy increases of 3 to 5 per cent on average nationwide.”

Meanwhile, Daniel Cuervo, secretary general of the Association of Spanish Construction Promoters (APCE), says he believes 2019 will bring in 115,000 new homes, beating the roughly 95,000 built last year.

He added: “As for sales, we expect 2018 figures to be maintained during 2019 (more than 500,000 transactions of new and used homes),

with the aim that the new builds will exceed 15 per cent of total sales.”

In terms of investment opportunities, another property specialist, Sandra Diaz,director general of consultancy firm Gesvalt, said residential properties might prove to offer the best returns this year.

She explained: “everything seems to indicate that the residential market will continue to play a leading role in the sec-

tor, which has experienced a steady increase in demand.”

She added: “There has also been an increase in prices, of 8 per cent year-on-year, although it has occurred in the same areas, concentrating especially in Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Malaga and Bilbao.”

Arturo Diaz, executive director of the residential division at Savills Aguirre Newman, echoed Diaz’s sentiments, saying: “Activity throughout the year 2019 will remain high.

“We expect sales to be at a level similar to that of 2018, with between 550,000 and 575,000 units sold.”

The expert said he believed three and fourbedroomed properties would be in greatest demand this year.

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Tips for a quick sale T is often the way; as soon as you put your property on the market you come across the home of your dreams, leaving you in a rush to sell.

Experts at ProntoPiso, a company specialising in property chains, say residential housing in Spain generally sells in 7.9 months, although large cities often have shorter sale times, including Madrid at three months, Zaragoza at 3.7 months, Sevilla at 4.9 months.

Diego Paradina, COO and co-founder of ProntoPiso, explained: “Selling a house as an individual is more complicated than it seems, and the real estate sector requires prior knowledge to guarantee success in the shortest possible time.”

The company says it has analysed how to help homeowners, however, and has come up with a five-point

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CREDIT: PRONTOPISO

FAST SALE: Tips to speed up the sale of your home. plan to improve the chances of selling your home quickly.

According to the specialists, you could reduce any waiting period by adjusting your price to the market. The company says it is important to put aside sentimental value when valuing a property, instead looking at the prices

of homes nearby, or getting an assessment using online tools and inputting the size of a home, as well as other features.

Next, the company recommends taking a series of high-quality photographs. It says: ‘The first impression is always the most important.

Tidy the property, get rid of any items which do not add value, as well as decorating the house so the images are attractive and good-quality.

Increasing the sense of light and space are basic tips to ensure the photos are more striking.’

Thirdly, highlight any addi-

tional benefits your home offers, including proximity to transport, schooling, shops, bars, and restaurants; an important factor in a property search for many people.

The company also suggests mentioning a home’s orientation, and any other extras, including terraces or balconies.

Next, it advises publishing your property advert as widely as possible with several companies, as well as creating a warm, welcoming environment for any viewers before they arrive by preparing lighting and switching off any appliances which might make a distracting noise.

And finally, ProntoPiso recommends preparing your home’s documents ready for a quick sale, including proof of IBI payments, deeds, and identification, leaving you ready to speed the transaction through when the time comes.

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Top tips for buying a home abroad BUYING a home in the sun is a dream come true for many Brits, especially at this time of year when the nights are long, the wind is biting, and the rain never seems to let up.

But before rushing into a decision and snapping up what seems like a terrific bargain, consider the following advice: Find a good estate agent. Yes estate agents rarely feature in dreams, but a reputable local agent can make all the difference, especially if you’re unfamiliar with the lay of the land. Check with locals, lawyers and architects in the area for recommendations, and always get a second opinion.

Set a realistic budget. Expect hidden costs and additional taxes and fees, including fees just to find out what fees you’ll pay. Non-residents may also be expected to stump up a larger deposit than anticipated.

Find a good lawyer. Recruiting a lawyer you can trust will go a long way towards your peace of mind. British consulates will typically provide a list of approved lawyers, but make sure you’re clued up on the processes regardless, two minds are better than one.

Check the property. Seems simple, but people buying abroad are often swamped with time constraints and immediately blown away by the typical space and beauty homes abroad can offer. Make sure you know as much as you would were you buying a property at home.

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Buying a bank repossession A LOT of people shy away from a bank repossession, assuming the property is somehow defective or the previous owners have handed over the keys because of a major structural defect or a legal issue.

Whilst this can occasionally happen, it’s very rare and most of the time it’s a simple question of negative equity, in that the owners have refused to pay a mortgage on a property worth substantially less than the loan attached to it.

During the property boom the major banks were very generous with their lending, with some banks willing to lend up to 110 per cent in relation to the valuation, meaning buyers could purchase a property with virtually no deposit.

The practice was also commonplace in the UK, with one lender even offering

WORTH A LOOK: No reason whatsoever to ignore the repossession market.

a 130 per cent loan to value. When the recession or crisis hit, combined with the general drop in property prices it meant many owners fell into negative equity and had no option but to default on their mortgage.

Many financial experts blamed the banks for what amounted to malpractice and it meant they were left with a mass of properties on their books which they couldn’t sell.

One man’s misfortune is another man’s gain they say, and as with buying a new build or resale property in Spain, buying a bank repossession can be straightforward and hassle free.

As with all properties, the new owners should do their homework and make sure they have the correct legal team on board, but there is no reason whatsoever to ignore the repossession market.

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Get a mortgage in Spain THERE is no reason to be frightened in approaching a lender to finance the home of your dreams in sunny Spain.

Mortgages in this country, just like in the UK, are offered by banks and savings banks, and sold either directly by the lenders or through mortgage brokers.

However there are a few words of caution, because just like any other developed mortgage market there are big differences in the costs of the Spanish mortgages on offer.

Some may seem a little inflexible and expensive, but there are good products out there too.

The main difference between the average UK and Spanish mortgage is the transparency in costs. In the UK, fees are

BEST DEAL: Shop around and get professional help. set in stone and as an added safeguard the bank or building society and the mortgage conveyancer are duty bound to explain to the client exactly what the mort-

gage product is going to cost.

In Spain however, banks are relatively free to set the charges and terms they offer. This translates into significant

differences in costs and conditions. Not only do Spanish mortgages vary from bank to bank, they can sometimes vary within the same bank, from branch to branch.

In a nutshell, there are a lot of good products out there, but there are bad mortgages too. It is up to the client to shop around and ensure you get the best deal avail-

able. Professional help from a suitably qualified advisor may be in order too; ask your estate agent for referrals.

You need to ask yourself about variable and fixed-rate mortgages and setting a fixed rate with a monthly payment you know you can afford is seen as the more cautious approach.

Most mortgages sold in Spain, however, are variable-rate mortgages, meaning mortgage repayments vary according to the base rate set by the European Central Bank.

Borrowers with variable rate Spanish mortgages cannot be certain what their mortgage payments will be in the future. If the interest rate falls, they will pay less, but if it rises they will pay more.

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Can you sell your property if you have lost the title deeds?

HAT would happen if you went to put your property up for sale, but when going through all your paperwork and documentation, you realised that you had lost your original title deeds (escritura)? Would you be able to continue with the sale?

How could you obtain a duplicate copy?

This isn’t such a strange scenario, especially if you have been living in your property for a long time and are prone to frequent bouts of spring cleaning.

So what do you do if after hunting around your home you still can’t find the original title deeds?

Can you still go ahead with the sale? Well, you don’t have to worry as there are several options if this happens to you.

Firstly, so long as your title deeds have been registered at the Property Registry office (Registro de la Propiedad) and your

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name shows as the owner, the notary will authorise the sale when you go to sign even if you do not bring the original with you.

In this case, the notary himself will apply for the information recorded with the registry; ownership details and any outstanding

LOST DEEDS: There are several things you can do if you have lost your title deeds but want to sell your property. charges on the property. This will be enough to go ahead with the sale of your home.

However, if there is still time before you actually sign on the dotted line and you would prefer to have a copy of the title deeds in hand, you could also apply for a new authenticated copy of the escritura. In this instance, all you have to do is go to the notary where the original title deeds were signed when you purchased the property and ask for them to supply you with a new copy.

If you can’t remember where you signed the original, go to the Property Registry and ask for a non-certified informative note (nota simple informativa), which will give you the name and address of the notary at which the title deeds were signed.

Note the authenticated copy of the title deeds will only be handed over to the person or people on the deeds as the owner of the property in question. Once you have your new authenticated copy in your hand, there are still a

couple of steps which must be completed in the process.

Tax: You must go to the tax office (Agencia Tributaria) of the autonomous region where the property transfer tax was paid and present them with the new copy of the title deeds. They will be able to check and confirm the property transfer tax has been paid.

Registry: Next, go to the relevant property registry office. They will confirm the original title deeds were in your name and make a note on the new copy that this is the case, the deeds were lost and the new title deeds are an authenticated copy of the original.

If you only need to accredit ownership of the property and check if there are any outstanding charges, for example when the bank asks for this information before granting a mortgage, it may only be necessary to apply for a Certificate of Ownership and Charges.

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THERE are many steps required to buying a property in Spain and it’s always best to ensure that you know what you are doing, buying and how to go about it. Taking each step with the help of a lawyer is always advisable, particularly if you are not fluent in Spanish and you are not familiar with the ins and outs of purchasing a property in this country.

Once you have signed on the dotted line, handed over the cash and paid all the taxes and fees that need to be paid, there is still one more legality that must be attended to before you can finally put your feet up and relax in your new home.

And that’s registering your purchase at your nearest property registry office. It is recommended to everyone who buys a property as it could save you a lot of hassle and stress in the future if you are faced with any type of problem.

Doing this is a must if you want to safeguard your purchase and especially if you ever need to prove that the house you have just bought is legally yours. Registering the purchase will act as a guaran-

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Did you register your property purchase?

Registro if you are looking to take out a mortgage. This will not be possible otherwise.

It is also important to ensure that you register the purchase immediately for the following reasons: • To be considered as the only and true owner of the property • Protection against the seller’s creditors • Will be legally protected in any court case if the property’s ownership is in doubt or under discussion

REGISTRATION: It is important that each buyer registers his or her property purchase with the Property Registry office as soon as possible. tee of protection if your name has been logged as the owner of so-and-so house.

Although signing the title deeds or ‘escritura’ will automatically make and name you as the new owner of the property, if you don’t register this

change with the property registry office straightaway, you could find that other charges or fees, which would rank ahead of your ownership rights, could be added against the property while it still appears on the Registro list in the

name of the previous owner. In the worst-case scenario, you could end up having to sell the property you have just bought in order to repay a debt that wasn’t yours!

You will also need to register your property purchase at the

For example, if two people buy the same property - unknowingly, of course, it doesn’t matter which of them purchased the property first, it is the one that registers the property first that will have priority over its ownership rights.

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A quarter of properties sold during boom declared for up to half their value N 2006 at the height of the property boom in Spain and barely two years before the crash, one out of every four properties sold was declared by its owner for up to half its real value.

The value of only one out of every 25 homes registered with the Property Registry Office actually coincided with the real value in the title deeds for the mortgage.

Fast forward to 2019, and you are hard pushed to find any cases where there is such a huge gap between the two.

In fact, the number of property registrations where both figures matched went up from 4 per cent to 25 per cent in the 10 years following the crash, according to a study carried out by the Bank of Spain and published this month.

Economists Olympia Bover, Maria Torrado and Ernesto Villanueva, who carried out the study which looks at trends between 2004 - 2016, highlighted during the ‘expansion cycle’ (2004-2008),

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houses in Spain were valued around 30 per cent higher than what they sold for. In other words, buyer and seller were only declaring 70 per cent of the value given by the official assessor.

The property crash coupled with the start of the recovery meant valuation prices were reduced more than sales prices, which helped narrow the gap between the two figures. Therefore between 2009 -2016, the difference was noticeably less. In spite of this, official valuation rates continued to be around 10 per cent above selling prices; still considered to be an important figure, according to experts.

These imbalances can be explained by a number of reasons,

HUGE GAPS: During the boom, there was a huge difference between purchase prices and official valuations. and come about due to property prices varying depending on the source from where the information is taken, whether it’s the official val-

uation price, or transfer price, which is then recorded with the Property Registry and forms the tax base which goes to the Tax Registry Office.

This is partly where the problem lies. In general, the study has shown the transfer price declared with the Property Registry is usually less than the purchase price, which is in turn lower than the valuation price.

One reason both parties declare an inferior amount to the one actually paid is to save money when it comes to paying tax; while defrauding the Tax Office at the same time. We mustn’t also forget, in 2006 the majority of property assessors were linked with one bank or another rather than working independently. For this reason, properties were val-

ued higher in order to grant a bigger mortgage.

This caused total misery for many households who couldn’t afford their mortgage payments when the crisis struck, as they had been lent more money than they could afford.

With the difference between the valuation and transfer price, between 2004 - 2007 Spanish households owed the bank 70 per cent of the property value when calculating from the valuation price. But when you take the transfer price instead, households were in debt of 107 per cent, with the recommended limit being no higher than 80 per cent.

Thankfully Spanish banks are no longer carrying out these ill-advised practices and in 2016 the amount of debt on Spanish households for their property went down from 107 per cent to 80 per cent, and only 10 per cent of mortgage loans exceeded the declared purchase price as opposed to 50 per cent in 2006.

Print your own home AT some point after 2030, the world will need 100,000 homes built per day if the world population meets UN projections. If that’s the case, alternatives like the WASP project will be indispensable.

The Italian initiative has created a three-dimensional printer called BigDelta, capable of building a sustainable home in just seven days.

The Italian group have aimed their targets at low cost building in remote areas. Using water, dry hay and rocks, Big Delta mud buildings can be up to three metres high.

However, the system can adapt to the local surroundings and available materials depending on where you are going to develop the site. In their statement, the Italian company refers to them as houses 'zero-mile,' because it does not require

transportation of materials from another area, one of the reasons most prices increase with usual construction.

But as if that wasn’t quick enough, Americans scientists have claimed to have designed a revolutionary giant 3D concrete printer which can build a 2,500 square-foot house in just 24 hours.

The American 3D printer, developed by Professor Behrokh Khoshnevis from the University of Southern California, could potentially be used to build a whole house, layer by layer, in a single day.

The giant robot replaces construction workers with a nozzle on a gantry, which squirts out concrete and can quickly build a home based on a computer pattern. It is “basically scaling up 3D printing to the scale of building,” said Khoshnevis.

CREDIT: SERGIO RUS WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

EASY: Printed homes are a reality.

Contour Crafting is a layered fabrication technology and has great potential for automating the construction of whole structures as well as sub-components, according to the project website.

Using this process, a single house or a colony of houses, each with a different design, may be automatically constructed in a

single run. Embedded in each house would be all the conduits for electrics, plumbing and air conditioning. The potential applications of this technology are farreaching, including in emergency, low-income, commercial and even ‘off world’ housing.

‘Our research also addresses the application of Contour Craft-

ing in building habitats on other planets. Contour Crafting will most probably be one of the very few feasible approaches for building structures on other planets, such as the Moon and Mars, which are being targeted for human colonisation before the end of the new century,’ researchers said on the project website.

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INTERIOR: Make the space your own.

Making a rented property your own NOT everyone living in Spain is in a home of their own.

Many, especially with younger families or perhaps the recently retired, have taken the option to rent property for financial reasons or as a way of testing out the area and the lifestyle before taking the purchasing plunge.

But renting doesn’t stop you making the villa or apartment you’re staying in, your home. Here are a few

WALLS Wall stickers are becoming an increasingly popular way to add a playful touch to your space without damaging the paintwork beneath. Check any packaging to make sure the stickers are fully removable and test it out in an inconspicuous area before applying to the whole wall.

They come in a wide range of designs nowadays, from decorative woodland scenes for children’s bedrooms, Banksy-inspired pieces and modern geometric designs; so there is something to suit every look and budget.

PICTURES Hanging prints and artwork is a simple way to personalise any space, but most tenancy contracts stipulate walls should not be damaged by nails or screws.

As an alternative, picturehanging strips which won’t

tips on how to add character and personality to a blank canvas rented home, whilst keeping your landlord happy.

With the constraints of living in rented accommodation, making the space feel like your own can be a challenge. Most contracts won’t allow walls to be painted, artwork to be hung or light fittings to be changed,

damage the walls when removed could be used.

They come in a variety of sizes to hang items of different weights, including photo frames, canvases, mirrors and clocks. Why not create a gallery wall using a series of small frames to showcase prints and postcards?

As well as using strips to hang pictures on the walls, make the most of furniture and architectural details around the house to display artwork too.

Lean frames on mantelpieces, windowsills and even on top of furniture for a quick way to make your space feel homely.

Removable wall hooks are also available and are great for hanging kitchen utensils along a wall or splashback, or used as towel hooks in a bathroom.

PERSONAL TOUCH A lot of rental properties

WALL STICKERS: Increasingly popular.

SIMPLE UPDATE: Use throws to add colour.

meaning as a tenant you are somewhat limited in your decoration choices.

Don’t be disheartened; injecting your style doesn’t have to involve retiling the bathroom or fitting new kitchen cabinets; a little creativity and some simple updates will help make your rented space feel like home in no time.

come furnished, which whilst having the advantage of saving the cost of buying your own furniture, means you as a tenant are stuck with existing pieces which may not suit your tastes.

For a simple update in the living room, use throws to create a cover for drab sofas or armchairs, or simply use them to accessorise and add colour or pattern, along with a collection of co-ordinating cushions.

Speak to your landlord about upcycling furniture in the house too; for example, they may be happy for you to paint a chest of drawers in the bedroom or change the legs on the coffee table to better suit your style.

Alternatively, head to your local charity shop or car boot sale and see if you can pick up a bargain piece of furniture to make your own.

ACCESSORIES Using accessories in a rented home is a simple and budget-friendly way to make it feel homely and lived in. Houseplants are great for instantly refreshing your décor and they can be placed in any room to give it a lift.

If, like most rented properties, your space lacks colour, introduce splashes of your favourite shades. Rugs are a wonderful way to transform the look of any room, particularly if you’re looking to add a statement pattern or design feature.

Bringing texture into your space with a faux fur rug or rustic jute runner will give the room depth, whilst helping to hide cheap-looking laminate flooring. Collect vases and ornaments which will stand out against bland furniture and can be kept on display to add personality.

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NOW that the property market has entered a positive trend, with it comes the fear that another crash is looming on the horizon.

We are in a period of rising house prices, double-digit spikes in the number of mortgages being granted and growing interest from international investors in domestic assets.

However, experts in the property field are insisting that the situation which we are experiencing now is nothing like that which we went through before the crisis in 2008.

According to Joaquin Maudos, Professor of Economic Analysis at the University of Valencia, one of the most telling statistics to prove we are not about to enter a property bubble is related to the granting of new mortgages.

Despite the fact that more and more loans are being granted by the banks and the number is at its highest since 2011, in the last 12 months 72 per cent fewer mortgages have been awarded than in 2006.

Maudos’s study also looks at

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No sign of property bubble, say experts other data including the type of interest applied and how much an average family must spend from its wages to cover its monthly mortgage payments and compares it with other counties in the eurozone.

The eurozone share In 2006, the number of mortgages coming from Spain was 20 per cent of the EU total, but now this figure is only 5.2 per cent. This figure becomes even more revealing when we note that we are the third eurozone market in terms of volume of loans (the outstanding balance is around €519,000 million), second only to Germany and France. Nor can we forget we are the fifth country where mortgages weigh more than the total assets of the bank, tied with the Netherlands.

The real estate sector ac-

NO SIGN OF TROUBLE: Experts deny there is a property crisis looming. counts for 19.7 per cent of total assets within the financial sector, compared to the 13.8 per cent represented on average in the eurozone, according to data from the European Central Bank (ECB).

Spanish mortgages are amongst the cheapest The number of mortgages being taken out in Spain are attributed, according to Spain’s

moneylenders, to a greater consumer confidence, cheaper mortgage rates and economic house prices.

One of the figures which backs this up is that current loans are subject to some of the lowest interest rates within the eurozone, at 1.21 per cent.

Only Finland and Portugal offer lower interest rates.

At the other end of the scale,

there are eight countries whose interest rates exceed 2 per cent and in Holland, mortgage holders must pay back 3 per cent interest.

Disposable income for families According to a report from the Bank of International Settlements (BIS), Spanish families had to dedicate 11.9 per cent of their gross disposable income to their mortgage debt in September 2008, which was the maximum value reached at the height of the crisis, during a time when families were heavily indebted.

Since then, debt service has been falling gradually until reaching a minimum of 6.6 per in March last year (latest available data), thus returning to figures of 2003. This figure is similar to Germany (6.1 per cent) and France (6.2 per cent) and less than the UK (9.4 per cent) or the USA (8.2 per cent).

Not only this, but Spain is the second country where the debt service of families has fallen the most since the beginning of the financial crisis, only behind Denmark.

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Spaniards live in flats, expats live in houses THE vast majority of Spanish citizens live in flats (66.5 per cent), over single family homes (33.1 per cent), thus making them the leading flat owners in all of Europe.

However, residents of other European countries tend to opt for houses (59.3 per cent) over flats (40 per cent); UK (84.7 per cent), Croatia (80.8 per cent), Belgium (77.6 per cent), and Holland (77.1 per cent) lead the rankings when it comes to single family homes, according to data from Eurostat.

Of the citizens polled, 70.1 per cent of Europeans are homeowners ahead of 29.9 per cent who rent. There are countries where home ownership is the clear choice among citizens.

The countries of Eastern Europe are the ones with the most homeowners: Romania (96.1 per cent), Slovakia (90.3 per cent), Lithuania (89.9 per cent), Croatia (89.7 per cent) and

66.5 Per cent of Spanish citizens live in flats.

Hungary (89.1 per cent) are all ahead of Spain, where 78.8 per cent of residents own their homes.

In the north and west of Europe, ownership and rentals are about the same, with Germany (52.5 per cent), Austria (57.2 per cent), Denmark (63.3 per cent) Britain (64.8 per cent) and France (65.1 per cent) being the countries with the least home owners, thus falling below the European average, and 47.5 per cent of Germans and 42.8 per cent of Austrians rent their homes. In Spain the number of

renters is below the average: only 21.2 per cent of the population.

Having a property, either owned or rented, means fixed costs every month. Dedicating more than 40 per cent of one’s salary to living expenses can become a problem. Greece is the country in the EU with the most problems related to property costs; 40.7 per cent of its citizens have to dedicate their salaries to the mortgage or general home expenses.

After Greece, although at a distance, are Germany (15.9 per cent), Denmark (15.6 per cent), Holland (15.4 per cent), and Romania (14.9 per cent).

In Spain, 10 per cent of the population have significantly large living expenses.

Another factor kept in mind by the Eurostat inquest is that of over-occupied homes; homes where the amount of space is insufficient for the number of oc-

POPULAR CHOICE: The ma jority

of Spaniards live in flats.

cupants. Romania (52.3 per cent), Hungary (44.6 per cent), Poland (44.2 per cent), Bulgaria (43.3 per cent), and Croatia (42.1 per cent) are the leaders in this regard. In Spain this percentage sits at barely 5.3 per

cent, well below the European average of 17.1 per cent.

Overall, Finns are the Europeans most satisfied with their living situations, with an average grade of 8.4 out of 10.

THE demand for property in Spain from foreign buyers continues to increase and does not show any signs of slowing down; great news for estate agents who mainly deal with buyers from outside Spain.

In spite of the EU economy slowing down slightly and uncertainty as to how the commercial war between China and the US will affect the global market, statistics from the Valencia College of Notaries revealed 2018 closed with 23,060 properties in the Alicante Province Property sold to foreign buyers. purchases in This is 6.9 2018 made per cent

by Brits more than 2017, and is a stat mirrored in other popular areas like the Costa del Sol. This is an extremely positive figure and registers as the eighth consecutive year where property BUYING BRITS: The number of British people investing in properties in Alicante Province has purchases made by foreign buyincreased a lot in the last year. ers have risen.

If we look at the figures from 2010 when only 8,556 transac- see this figure has almost tripled buyers are attracted by great businesses which cater for fortions (in Alicante Province) in- in 2018. weather and quality of life, the eigners, excellent transport links volved a foreign buyer, we can As well as low house prices, large number of services and especially flights - and the strong

relationship formed between international estate agents and promotors and developers here.

These days foreigners are not scared to buy property in Spain as they have done so for many years. They also realise selling their investment - if they had to would not be a problem either.

Those in real estate luckily had the foresight to diversify in the different possible markets which can be reached, and this has allowed the reduction of foreign buyers from one country to be compensated by investors from new markets.

For example in 2016, there was an increase in the number of buyers from Sweden and Belgium, which made up for the initial reduction of British buyers after the unexpected result of Brexit.

However last year the property market saw a reversal of this phenomena. The year ended with 4,931 property purchases in the province made by Brits; 9.5 per cent more than in 2017.

The majority were resale properties, nevertheless the number of British buyers has gone up considerably, as has the amount they are spending; an average of €146,880 in 2018 compared to €133,956 the previous year.

More Brits and fewer Swedes

4,931

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OR anyone who has lived on the top floor of an apartment block, they would know all about the benefits of living high up.

While the disadvantages may not be obvious, most people would still choose an ‘ático’ over a ground floor property every time, which is why this is reflected in the price of the two different types of living accommodation.

On average, a top floor apartment will set you back around €264,947, and generally measure approximately 112 square-metres, while a standard ground floor has an average surface area of 91 square-metres and a price tag of €146,845. In both cases, this would consist of two bedrooms and one bathroom.

Therefore, for those who prefer to live higher up, they would have to invest 80 per cent more money for the privilege.

This is also partly due to the fact there are many more offers of ground floors than there are áticos, which naturally pushes

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Top or Bottom?

ON TOP Many people still prefer an ático to the ground floor.

the price up on the latter.

Some of the main reasons why people opt for the apartments at the top of a building include more natural light inside the property and better views.

However, living in an ático also has its disadvantages, especially if the

building itself is very old. If it is not maintained properly, those living on the top floor could experience leaks from the roof or humidity.

Top floor apartments are also more susceptible to changes in temperature, which in many cases could mean investing in some type of insulation for the winter and air conditioning in the summer. Much of it depends on the type of windows you have and the position of the sun throughout the day.

With regards to ground floor apartments, they are usually always the last to be sold, but on the plus side, this means you could

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TOP QUALITY: There are many advantages of living in an ático, which is also reflected in the price.

manage to save a lot of money and even get very good discounts.

It is always worth going to check out a ground floor property, because it isn’t necessarily a given that it won’t have any windows and is dark. Some of them have interior patios or much more outside space.

Differences in autonomous regions: The most expensive and largest áticos are to be found in Madrid. Here, they cost approximately €557,590 and have an average area of 144 square-metres.

This is contrasted with those in the region of Castilla-La Mancha, where they are priced at around €145,390 and top floor apartments in Cantabria are the smallest at 78 squaremetres.

Regarding ground floor apartments, the most economically priced are found in Extremadura, at €101,397. The most expensive and the smallest are located in the north of the country in the Basque Country and Galicia respectively.

The greatest difference in price between the two types of property has been registered in Madrid. An ático costs 192 per cent more than a ground floor apartment.

At the other end of the scale, the least amount of difference is in Cantabria, where top floors are only 13 per cent more expensive.

The largest offer of top floor apartments for the whole country can be found in the Balearic Islands, while in the north of the country, such as La Rioja, Asturias or the Basque Country, only 2 per cent of all property offers include top floor apartments.

Ground floor apartments are pretty abundant in Castilla-La Mancha, where they make up 13 per cent of all offers, while the fewest offers are to be found in Galicia and Navarra where they only make up 3 per cent of the total.

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