Monthly Archive for June, 2009

An expert has said that now is the time for the wealthy to invest in top-end Spanish property.

Paul Bradley, a spokesman for the Spanish Property Owners Guild (SPOG), said prices for these top-range houses has reached the bottom and are likely to remain there for some time.

As such, he believes "the wealthy [will] seek to take advantage".

Mr Bradley said: "I forecast that demand for these will slowly increase as the market comes back in the UK."

He added that prices are only likely to rise once a property receives interest from more than one buyer.

The Spanish Property Owners Guild is an independent group created to represent the interests of consumers. It was established by Spanish lawyers, accountants and property owners and provides an information and advice service in English.

Mr Bradley’s comments follow the release of the Knight Frank Global House Price Index which found property prices in Spain fell by three per cent in the first quarter of 2009 compared to the previous quarter.

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Horse lovers looking for a Spain property may be interested in visiting the "horse-whisperer of the Pyrenees".

Bertrand Cauchy is a well known figure in northern Spain and has a reputation to sooth both horse and rider, reports the Guardian.

Journalist Hugh Thomson, a novice horse rider, spent a week on a trek with Mr Cauchy, visiting his home in Nocito before taking up the reins.

Once in the saddle, the trek took them through "one of the last wilderness left in Europe" - the peaks of the Pyrenees mountains could be seen in the distance from the hills surrounding Nocito.

Amateur riders can take day trips out from the guest house and those with more experience can take up the longer treks with Mr Cauchy which go over the mountains to a 12th-century castle called Castle Loarre.

There are also many places people looking for property can go horse riding in the south of Spain.

One place to try is Rancho Huerta Del Batan in Andalucia.

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People looking for Spanish property could do well to go hunting by train.

Giles Tremlett from the Guardian decided to test out the Spanish high-speed AVE trains by taking a journey from one end of the country to the other.

It is one of his favourite ways to travel in the country as it avoids what can be over-crowded and stressful airports such as Barcelona or Madrid.

He says: "The AVE has put the pleasure back into travel."

Those looking for Spanish properties will find that using the train can be quicker than flying around the country.

"Train trips to Cordoba, Valladolid, Segovia, Toledo, Girona, Tarragona and Zaragoza now take much less time than by air," Mr Tremlett adds.

In the future an additional 9,000 km of track will be added to the rail network, including links into Portugal and France.

This will make the AVE trainline the biggest high-speed network in Europe.

UK visitors can travel to Spain by train by taking the Eurostar into France, then picking up an Elipsos overnight train into the country.

Visit Rightmove Overseas for the best selection of Spanish property. Stop dreaming, start searching!

Going green may be able to help people living abroad afford a Spanish property.

When the sterling began to fade in strength against the euro earlier this year, many expatriates found themselves struggling to cope, according to the Telegraph.

However, by simultaneously reducing your carbon footprint and living in a more self-sufficient manner, home owners can conquer the credit crunch.

This is exactly what Peter Hughes and Kinga Monica did with their property in Almeria, Spain.

The pair decided to install solar thermal panels, wood-burning stoves, rainwater harvesting and grow their own vegetables to keep costs low.

It worked and their monthly running costs are around €25 (£21.50).

Peter said: "We’re completely self-sufficient.

"We have all our needs: television, kitchen gadgets. We even ran high-power drills off the batteries without running out during the building work."

Many regions in Spain now have the law that all new properties must have solar power built in to them.

According to Indigo Guide, Almeria is one of the least known Spanish costas with a growing tourist industry.

Visit Rightmove Overseas for the best selection of Spanish property. Stop dreaming, start searching!