This Weeks Spanish Property News
April 25th, 2006
Agents Fadesa and Grupo Pinar, amongst others, implicated in Marbella
El confidencial.com reported that in the case of Marbella a number of the big national property agents are being denounced for promoting as many as 82 works for irregularities on as many as 30,000 dwellings within the municipality of Malaga.
Fadesa, Grupo Pinar, Inmobiliaria Osuna, Avila Rojas or Apex are among the tens of companies which have allegedly continued work in areas paralysed by the High Court of Justice in Andalusia (TSJA). In the case of Fadesa, the Galician property agent promoted 120 homes in the urbanisation, Guadalmina Baja, works that had been paralysed by the TSJA as far back as October 2003.
During 2005 Grupo Pinar developed more than 200 homes in Xarblanca, when works had been paralysed there by the TSJA back in November 2004. In many cases, promotions had appeared in green zones, within areas destined for urban use or land zoned for commercial use. However, the companies affected reject any responsibility. The property agents, Fuentes de Iberdola pointed out that Apex 2000 effectively had 4 plots at their disposal in Elviria (Marbella) however “nothing is paralysed there because nothing was ever started, once they had been warned about having their licenses suspended.” For its own part, Fadesa defended its promotion in Marbella, commenting that it had all the required permits in order and claimed that the TSJA had never ordered the paralisation of works and therefore the protest made by Ecologists in Action would never succeed.
Is it the right moment to buy or better to wait?
El Mundo ran the story that the winds of deceleration were blowing in the property sector, but not all the experts were convinced that things would lead to a slowing in home prices. Guillem Diaz, in charge of the housing section of the consultancy D’Aleph remarked that he wouldn’t dare to advise home buyers to wait because “it’s not clear that the anticipated drop in prices will happen” and instead “it seems that prices will continue to rise faster than salaries.” Similarly, he warned future buyers who had decided to focus on saving until there was a drop in prices that “there is a risk with this option that prices will continue to rise.” He concluded that “at the moment we just can’t recommend waiting to buy until prices possibly drop.”
Home owners in Malaga begin to lower prices rather than delay sales
Sur reported that the slowing down that is happening within the property sector in Malaga is returning the market to sensible levels after the exorbitant levels experienced. Many owners who previously had a sales board when prices were rising dramatically, are now finding they have to change their initial preconceptions to the latest market conditions.
The National Director of MC property agents, Juan Felipe Munoz, confirms that many owners feel forced to lower their asking price below valuations, simply to stand a chance of encountering a buyer. The experts confirm that one of the principal causes for this new situation is that most of the demand for property has been satisfied in this area, whilst another explanation is that prices are still out of kilter with the market due to the high levels reached during the last few years.
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