Click on one of the article headings below to read more. These articles were written by Chris Garwood for various publications such as Living Spain Magazine and Spain Magazine.
Letter to The Times
March
2009
After visiting Moraira for regular holidays since the early 1980’s, my wife, Linda and I emigrated here from the U.K. eight years ago, having satisfied ourselves that there was no better Spanish or, indeed, Mediterranean permanent base (we had sailed throughout most of the Med. during twenty years of yacht ownership).
Once established here, we decided, in the light of our own mistakes, bad advice, and mixed experiences, to establish our own Property Relocation business – Costa Blanca Select, based here in Moraira. Having witnessed, and indeed, been involved in, the local property market, we were initially amused at the sweeping (and relentless) negativity of the U.K. media, regarding the Spanish property market, but I have to admit, we are beginning to loose our humour!
Whilst we recognise and accept that there are many inferior costal areas, and cities, where unrestrained development has indeed brought about serious difficulties for culprit developers and local authorities, this is certainly not symptomatic of the whole of the Costas. Of course, prices throughout the Costas had overheated, just as they have done in dear old Blighty, but things are far from desperate! We are proud to report that last year; our unit sales were 60% ahead of 2007, with sales value up by 51%, reflecting slightly lower unit values.
Maybe we are doing things differently, and possibly better; relying on ‘old fashioned’ concepts such as hard work, integrity and honest information and advise, but we are only providing our clients with the kind of thorough and comprehensive service we would have valued ourselves, when planning our own move to Spain.
However, from what U.K. based friends tell us of reports in the media there, we really do not recognize the situation, as described, on the Costa Blanca (North). The true fact is – if anyone is interested – that the current market locally remains steadfast and active, with no more than maybe 5% of local agents succumbing to the market slowdown ( we would be glad to see the demise of the worst 50%+ of them)! Buyers are still out there; both from the U.K. and other parts of northern Europe, and beyond. Indeed, we have an agonising backlog of dozens of confirmed would-be buyers – if only they could sell their current homes – who are desperate to leave the U.K. for the lifestyle, weather, and society of Mediterranean Spain. Of the sellers, well they do outnumber the buyers, but they fall into two camps: those who need to sell, usually for family, financial, health or other personal reasons, who need to sell regardless of markets and prices, who are vulnerable to derisory offers; then there are those who would merely like to sell. This will be to trade up or trade down in size, or to move to a different locality, nearby. Consequently, the number of, so-called, desperate sellers is finite, whereas the buyer demand remains steady; the ‘would like to’ vendors understand this and are prepared to bide their time, rather than reduce their price. When this category of vendor sells, it will effectively be on a matched basis with someone else locally, in the same situation, so this area of market activity will not increase the supply of property for outside buyers.
You may now see that there may be just cause for an underlying confidence in the medium and longer term. In the short term, we are seeing a growing impetus from shrewd buyers from northern climes, looking to make the best of this current buying opportunity. Fortune favours the brave!
