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Spanish property market moving towards recovery

Indeed, Murcia based estate agent Mercers is predicting that sales will increase by 25% in 2013 compared with 2012. Already at halfway through the year, sales are up 70% over the first six months of 2012.

‘We’ve sold in excess of 20 more properties in the first half of 2013 than we did in the same period last year, up 70%, and our feeling is that the market is set to accelerate further as the year progresses,’ said Chris Mercer, director of Mercers.

‘There is definitely a more positive vibe coming from the UK and this will translate to a larger percentage of British buyers for us as we move into autumn. Bank lending is still virtually nonexistent, but ironically that’s helping us. Prospective buyers know they have to raise funds in their home nation and this saves a lot of time, weeds out the dreamers and leaves us with serious clients with finance already in place,’ he explained.

Volume of sales aside, Mercers was also surprised to note that the average sale price had increased over 2012. ‘Last year our average sale price was €84,884. So far for 2013 it’s at €92,331. I had thought that this particular figure would be more or less the same as 2012, but instead we have a not insignificant increase of almost 9%,’ said Mercer.

‘I find this very encouraging as it suggests that the fire sales have passed through the system. Many of the developers who were selling stock with 100% finance have now done so, leaving established agents such as Mercers to continue what we do best and that’s sell great value property to traditional buyers,’ he added.

There are also more British buyers returning to the Spanish property market. They top the nationality chart for Mercers’ buyers in the first half of 2013. Some 60% of sales have gone to British buyers, 11% to French buyers and the same to Dutch buyers and 8% to Spanish buyers.

The increase comes as Spanish Economy Minister Luis de Guindos has said that the recession is over and that Spain’s economy will grow in the second half of the year. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) also said in June that it expected Spain to return to growth in the latter part of 2013, but warned its banks were still fragile and unemployment too high.

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