House prices have dropped by over 50%!!!

[Freamon]

Immigration is booming too. Net immigration 200,000 / year, even by official guesses. They are going to have to get us to leave or die.

Apart from the mass exodus of eastern europeans, who are EU nationals and therefore not counted amongst the immigration statistics.

Add to that the fact that immigration caps for non-EU immigrants are now in place and you'll find immigration is now far less than it has been on average over the past decade.

[EternalOptimist]

Buy a big fook off mansion for cash of course, what did you think I would do?

great, well do it.

[MrMark]

There are starting to be some bargains appear in the land of paella dinners. What about the following 3 bedroomed flat for just 81k (95,000 Euros)

Apartment For Sale, Alora, Malaga, Andalucia, Spain, Costa del Sol (inland)

From the pics it has fantastic scenery too

As to why prices are holding up in the UK (well the south-east) I think it must be that people feel rental incomes will hold up. The linked property I show above probably can't be rented out 8 months of the year. A house in London or Reading can be let out to Polish or Roumanian migrant workers 12 months a year. Incidentally property prices have held up in Madrid and Barcelona too, for much the same reason - that's where the work is and so workers able to pay decent rents.

[centurian]

How did they do that?

By introducing their NIMBY's charter which means people can (i.e. will) veto new house builds in their area. Their fluffy manifesto language says they want to ensure that new houses are built where they are welcome - which is basically nowhere, because no-one wants new houses built around them as it devalues their own homes (increased supply etc.).

[Freamon]

By introducing their NIMBY's charter which means people can (i.e. will) veto new house builds in their area. Their fluffy manifesto language says they want to ensure that new houses are built where they are welcome - which is basically nowhere, because no-one wants new houses built around them as it devalues their own homes (increased supply etc.).

I'm not sure this really changes anything. Locals have always been able to object to planning applications. Which means that building new houses is mostly impossible anyway. The only ones allowed are the big developers with a decent supply of brown envelopes to the local authority. Same as before really.

[OwlHoot]

By introducing their NIMBY's charter which means people can (i.e. will) veto new house builds in their area. Their fluffy manifesto language says they want to ensure that new houses are built where they are welcome - which is basically nowhere, because no-one wants new houses built around them as it devalues their own homes (increased supply etc.).

Quite right too I say - If they could build new properties by the million then the immigration floodgates would really open. So as well as saving the countryside, these so-called NIMBYs some people scoff at are helping keep immigration in check (much to the irritation of politicians of all shades - they all want to let in millions of would-be gratitude voters).

[Freamon]

Quite right too I say - If they could build new properties by the million then the immigration floodgates would really open. So as well as saving the countryside, these so-called NIMBYs some people scoff at are helping keep immigration in check (much to the irritation of politicians of all shades - they all want to let in millions of would-be gratitude voters).

What, you think a Somali refugee thinks along the lines of: "well I was going to seek asylum in Britain but I've heard they're not building many houses over there anymore so I'd better go somewhere else"??

[OwlHoot]

What, you think a Somali refugee thinks along the lines of: "well I was going to seek asylum in Britain but I've heard they're not building many houses over there anymore so I'd better go somewhere else"??

Perhaps not, but the Government has more of an incentive to curb the trend if housing is in short supply and thus more expensive.

[Sysman]

The Spanish market has collapsed since 2007, with prices of new coastal homes and older houses in inland "white villages" popular with British buyers plummeting 50% or more.

...

Barbara Wood, a buying agent acting for Britons, bought a seven-bedroom home in the tourist hotspot of Ronda; it was advertised at €1.5m (£1.25m) but the seller accepted €850,000. An Estepona villa had a €750,000 price tag but went for €485,000.

She says: "Discounts of 20% are way too little. Few sellers have the guts to advertise an asking price close to what they actually take, so buyers have to wade through masses of property with daft asking prices."

British developer Taylor Wimpey reports business has been better in 2010 than in 2009, but the firm still has flats at Puerto Pollenca on Mallorca, originally priced at €467,000, that are on sale for €215,000. Spanish developers have similar offers. British eco-property website Greenmoves.com has a three-bedroom country house at Castellón near the Costa Azahar, boasting solar power and an orange grove, reduced from €124,000 to just €90,000.

-------

So house prices dropped by over 50% in Spain, with nice climate, pools etc - WTF is so fundamental that holds up house prices in this country?

I think the theme there is that the pound has dropped.

[AtW]

I think the theme there is that the pound has dropped.

It's price in euros that's dropped numpty!!!