The Latest Spanish Property News from Kyero.com

Spain's Socialist government has unveiled tax increases designed to raise an extra €11bn ($16.2bn, £10.1bn) a year and cut a budget deficit swollen by the economic crisis. But it failed to convince opponents that the measures would be enough to rescue the public finances.

The big surprise this week was Sterling's decline against the Euro. At one point, 1 Euro was actually worth MORE than 1 Pound.

Sterling has had a wild ride this summer, hitting people with second homes on the Continent as well as holidaymakers.

Spanish consumer prices are seen falling at the same rate in September as in August on an annual basis, though analysts see inflation rates turning more positive by the end of the year.

The rate of decline in stays at Spain's hotels eased in August as Spaniards opted to vacation closer to home, but a declining number of foreign holidaymakers continued to weigh on the country's key industry.

There is increasing talk in the Spanish press about an incipient recovery in the housing market, largely based on some statistics suggesting the collapse in sales might be bottoming out.

That was the conclusion reached in the 2009 annual report on the Spanish property market prepared by Madrid-based real estate analysts R. R. de Acuña & Asociados.

The news this week is mostly about how the European economy is doing a shaky little recovery jig. So, should you be thinking about property in Spain yet? Maybe: But you should do this first.

The collapse in Spanish property sales appears to be running out of steam, which is good news of sorts.

The euro zone is emerging from recession, the European Commission said on Monday, but kept a gloomy overall forecast for 2009 as data showed job losses across the region still rising and sapping growth.

The sharp housing correction that has sent Spain's economy into a tailspin is bottoming out, Housing Minister Beatriz Corredor told parliament Wednesday.

When Santander launched its mammoth E7.2bn rights issue last year, rivals rushed to deny they needed to follow suit. Yet for the last six months, they have all been quietly raising their capital ratios – through asset sales, repurchase of their own bonds at a discount and the sale and leaseback of offices.

Spain was brought to its knees when its Spanish property market collapsed. With a public deficit nudging 10 percent of GDP, Spain's government is testing the waters on a series of recovery measures - from improved social protection to green stimulus.

After last week's article entitled Spanish property: Delusionism or Optimism, I received an interesting email from Property Pulse reader, Steve Dimmock:

House prices are forecast to suffer a significant fall over the next 18 months as an "irrational" rally ends, according to a report today from a leading property consultancy.

Spanish month-on-month consumer prices rose in August after a sharp drop in July though less than expected, while annual inflation moved off its record low a month earlier, official data showed on Friday.

Spain's prime minister warned Wednesday of a prolonged period of economic difficulty even after the country eventually recovers from its deep recession.

With the highest unemployment rate in Europe and a gaping hole in its economy where a construction sector used to be, you might think Spain would be rushing to restore its competitiveness and rebalance its budget.

Residential Spanish property prices fell by 8.9% over 12 months to the end of August, according to the latest Spanish property price index published by Tinsa, one of Spain’s leading appraisal companies.

A swings and roundabout week for Sterling. UK manufacturing PMI disappoints; services PMI exceeds expectations. Euro zone economic shrinkage confirmed at -0.1% in the second quarter of the year.

Over the summer months, the larger UK property portals reported best-ever numbers for visitors and enquiries. This is surprising for two reasons:

Spain will withdraw its anti-crisis spending gradually in order to avoid a double-dip recession, Economy Minister Elena Salgado said on Thursday.

There is a lot of talk about greens shoots and muted recovery, but all too often what is lacking is anything very substantial in the way of hard data to back up the various arguments.

A two-year bear market that ravaged global real estate stocks has petered out and a recovery is already underway in key Asian markets, with the United States and Europe to follow, Cohen & Steers Inc. said on Thursday.

Spain's budget deficit has grown to 4.69 percent of gross domestic product in the first seven months of the year, mainly due to the cost of measures aimed at alleviating the effects of the recession, the government said Tuesday.

Britain's economy shrinks by less than expected. Sterling suffers less than it might have done after upward revision to Q2 GDP. Germany and France expanded their economies in the second quarter.

Spain’s cash-strapped Socialist government is poised to emulate the UK and increase taxes on the rich, reversing its policy of tax cuts and prompting protests from the conservative opposition.

When France and Germany reported strong GDP figures, some economists declared the end of the recession, and blue skies ahead. Others pointed out that, as none of the fundamental contributors to economic wealth have improved, its very unlikely that we're witnessing the end of the recession.

There was much excitement this week among the “worst is over” crowd as Germany and France reported GDP growth of 0.3 per cent. But, while it is clearly nice to see the occasional postive number knocking around the global economy, I’m finding it hard to shed much pessimism.

Is any property below €50,000 a cheap Spanish property? Are cheap Spanish properties only to be found at auction or as bank repossessions? How much below market value does a Spanish property need to be to be considered cheap?