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Over the years I have seen, probably, thousands of properties for sale in Spain and these have varied from beach apartments in Spain and village town houses (new and old) – all the way through to luxury villas and fincas. However, what most of the properties had in common were owners remarkable for their lack of marketing skill and pro activity.
In fact, I never cease to be amazed at how inert most sellers are and how little effort they put into selling their Spanish property, despite the huge stakes that are involved (financially and emotionally). This was one of the reasons why I wrote a book on the subject back in 2008 (published 2009) called, ingeniously(!) ‘How to Sell your Spanish Property in a Crisis’.
At the time, I could not believe that no-one could foresee the seriousness of the Spanish property crash, about which I had been repeatedly warning since early 2006 – albeit that I was treated then as something of an idiot (and spoil sport!).
In reality, I suspect that few people could really believe (until 2009) that the halcyon days of the Spanish property boom were gone forever and that Spanish property prices could possibly drop radically – as it turns out by somewhere between 35%-50%.
Of course, for those of us scarred by the UK 1990s recession, the Spanish property crash was far from an improbability, given that the building boom in Spain by 2006/07 was so obviously lunatic that a major correction was nothing if not inevitable. After all, supply and demand had clearly parted company – together with any logic as to Spanish property values.
The trouble was that many sellers of Spanish property were very slow to react to the Spanish property crisis, believing that it would be little more than a dip (like in 2004). As a consequence, they were lulled into thinking that selling their properties in Spain would continue to be easy.
Indeed, for a long time sellers thought that all you had to do (just as during the boom) was put your property with a few local agents and then sit back and wait for the telephone to ring – whilst keeping your price as high as possible.
Needless to say, this passive approach to selling Spanish properties in what, predictably, developed into a massive property crash failed most sellers, not least because the majority continued to react behind the market. By this I mean, classically, that sellers only drop their prices after the market price has already dropped, as opposed to getting ahead of the market (it takes boldness) and dropping their price ahead of any further potential fall.
Spanish government drops tax on new properties The Spanish economy and the Spanish housing market
Meanwhile, few people selling Spanish property know how to fully exploit the armoury that they have at their disposal, which (ironically) is far greater than that of any individual estate agent!
However, to be really effective, as a seller, you need to know the ‘secrets’ to selling Spanish property and how to exploit every possible opportunity – whilst having the ‘edge’ on your (now very considerable) competition. This takes energy and pro-activity combined with property marketing know-how – which, if anything, is even more important now than ever before.
Why? Because selling Spanish property is not getting any easier.
Indeed, the Spanish property market is still looking badly damaged and it would be a brave person indeed, who predicted a stabalisation of the Spanish property market next year, let alone any rise in prices. My own feeling is that prices will continue falling in 2012, perhaps by a further 5-10% (if the Eurozone does not go into meltdown and make 5-10% look pathetically conservative).
Certainly, recent statistics are not encouraging. The Spanish Institute for National Statistics (www.INE.es) have recently released figures that show sales of Spanish property for September 2011 are 30.5pc down on the same month in 2010 and down 62% on September 2007.
Meanwhile, four years after the Spanish property crash started, Spain’s property ‘supply and demand’ problem has not eased. There are still a vast number of properties for sale in Spain with some estimates stating that this could be as many as 3 million (probably about right) – which is a frightening number.
That said, in fairness, there are many different property market sectors in Spain and many of them, for example new inland village developments, have no relevance whatsoever to what most expatriates wish to buy.
However, whichever way you look at it, this is no time you as a seller of Spanish property to be lazy, complacent or, sadly, optimistic.
Of course, the obvious question for any seller of Spanish property, at the moment is: is it really possible to sell?
Well, of course, it is – but you have to be pretty canny, very proactive, have property marketing ‘savvy’ and be bold in your pricing.
Nick Snelling – Culture Spain
FURTHER ARTICLES ON SPANISH PROPERTY AND THE SPANISH PROPERTY MARKET
Luxury villa for sale Valencia
‘How to Sell your Spanish Property in a Crisis’
‘How to Buy Spanish Property and Move to Spain – Safely!’
Spanish government drops tax on new properties
The Spanish economy and the Spanish housing market
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