Around 80 per cent of the funds for Malaga next year come from the Ministry of Development, and this total of 608 million is more or less the same as the amount set aside for this year. Works to improve public transport feature highly on the Ministry’s priority list with nearly 400 million set aside for rail and air infrastructure. In fact 2011 will see a record investment in the province’s rail network with 198 million euros budgeted for the high speed AVE train line between Antequera and Granada. In total the two provinces share 414 million euros for the AVE project.

Meanwhile Aena will have 116.2 million euros with which to complete the second runway at Malaga Airport. Work is already making good progress and a date has even been set for the opening: November 2011.
As far as roads are concerned some 42.35 million euros have been earmarked for the Malaga outer ring road. Most of this will be spent on stretches 1 and 2 of the new road which include the complex Churriana tunnel and the Guadalhorce viaduct. Stretches 3 and 4 are almost ready to open.

The water desalination plant planned for Mijas has once again been included in the budget with a sum of 30 million euros. While funds had been reserved for the project in previous budgets work has still not started on this key facility to help the area cope with water shortages in drought periods. Funds have also been set aside to adapt the sewage treatment plants in Malaga and on the Costa del Sol so that they can produce recycled water for irrigation.

Good news for the western Costa del Sol is that some 10.4 million euros have been reserved to guarantee the completion of the San Pedro underpass next year. Work, which had been stopped due to disagreements between the central government and the firm OHL, is already 80 per cent complete.

Another 30 million euros goes towards the construction of the new prison in Archidona while the southern access road to the airport and the future Fine Arts museum in Malaga have also been included.

Source: Sur in English

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The portal says that searches in the biggest European destination increased by 134% in the year to end August 2010. According to the report it is most likely to be holiday home buyers attempting to capitalise on the economic situation to bag a bargain.

Searches for Spanish property grew the most; climbing by 145.7% during the portal.

Foreign buyers will always continue to support prices in the popular markets. This seems to be confirmed by the 18.9% year on year fall in Irish property prices recorded in Q1, Ireland of course being least popular with foreign buyers.

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The country received 5.2 million foreign tourists last month, a 4.2 percent increase over the same time in 2009 with Britain and Germany accounting for nearly half of all visitors, the tourism ministry said in a statement.

But while the number of arrivals from Britain fell by 0.3 percent to 1.46 million, the number of visitors from Germany, whose economy has bounced back impressively from recession, rose by 11.4 percent to 1.03 million.

Tourist arrivals from France, Italy, the Netherlands and the Nordic countries were also up in September.

During the first nine months of the year the number of tourist arrivals hit 42.4 million, an 0.8 percent increase over the same time last year.

The country received 52.5 million visitors in 2009, an 8.7 percent decline over the previous year when Spain lost its ranking as the world’s second most visited country to the United States.

In 2008 the number of visitors to Spain fell by 2.3 percent over the previous year, its first reversal in tourist arrivals in more than a decade.

Story from Independent

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There are two lounge areas both with open fire places. Only minutes’ walk from excellent fish restaurants, tapas bars, pavement cafes and an abundance of shops and supermarkets. Dolphin Beach Bar which has excursions to see the dolphins and Palm Beach Bar are within a 5 minute walk around the bay. A Truly unique property that offers second to none accommodation and rental potential from April until the end of October, commanding between 1200 Euros and 1500€ per week.

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All this for 525,000€

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José Prado, of the Malaga Association of Builders and Developers, warned that the figures did not necessarily mean that the holiday home industry was waking up from its lethargy. He explained that a series of factors coincided to increase the number of properties sold to buyers from abroad. He stressed that banks were trying to get rid of their stock of repossessed properties by offering excellent mortgage conditions to their foreign clients.

Prado also pointed out that the rise in sales transactions being completed before the end of June could also be put down to the increase in value added tax from the beginning of July.

Another factor mentioned by Prado was that foreigners have started buying more second hand properties.

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Fantastic 3 bedroom 2 bathroom beach house set in gorgeous surroundings in a prime location next to the beach and only 5 minutes walk to shops, restaurants, beach bars and Estepona town centre.

There are SPECTACULAR sea and mountain views from the terrace and garden.The development is surrounded by beautiful mature communal gardens that lead straight onto the beach, there is also a large swimming pool on the complex. Rental potential is excellent due to the location being second to none.

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Buyers are back looking for holiday homes.  Mortgage broker Conti Financial Services, which specialises in overseas mortgages, reports a big increase in mortgage applications and the busiest month for over a year. The foul winter in the UK has probably helped concentrate buyers’ minds on that place in the sun and mortgage applications rose by 48% in March compared with the previous monthly average.

European banks have not suffered as much from the sub-prime crisis as UK mortgage lenders and Conti says that overseas mortgage providers have money to lend to foreign investors.  ‘Falling property prices across many European destinations – in some instances by as much as 50% – mean that the chance of owning a place in the sun may never be better, and historically low interest rates mean it’s become even more affordable for British buyers,’ says Clare Nessling, Conti’s operations director.

‘The most popular destinations amongst our clients are still France and Spain, both of which come with easy access and good rental opportunities. Turkey is also popular, as it offers some great property prices and all the benefits of its Mediterranean location, minus the effects of the strong Euro,’ she says.

Nessling reports bargain hunters out in force in Spain where oversupply of properties and fears about planning permission have left the banks holding repossessed properties which are being sold off. ‘Confidence is definitely growing, but there’s also an element of buyers snapping up bargains in traditional hotspots while they have the chance.’

If you want your holiday home to pay for itself with holiday lets, you will generally have to organise a euro or foreign currency mortgage.  Most European tax systems will only allow rental income to be offset on a mortgage secured on the rental property.

According to Nessling, British investors buying second homes in Europe are taking out euro-denominated mortgages.  But be aware that if the pound, which has recently strengthened against the euro, falls out of bed – which it could well do if we have a hung Parliament after the May election – your euro debt will be increasing and monthly repayments will go up too – unless you are able to let the property in euros to cover the outgoings.   However, most UK owners tend to rent to other Brits who are largely not prepared to pay more on rentals denominated in the stronger euro.

So where will you find a bargain?  ‘Those European countries yet to record their first quarter of growth since the credit crunch include Spain, Denmark and Ireland where an oversupply of stock is holding back prices,’ says Liam Bailey, head of residential research at international estate agents, Knight Frank.  If you want a bargain, Knight Frank’s figures show that average property prices are down 8% in France and Spain over the past year while Greece is off 5.2% and Italy down 3.5%.

If Italy is too expensive, try Croatia where average prices are lower than Italy, just as scenically beautiful and prices are down 7.3% year on year.  Prices in Portugal have been static but for the biggest bargains of all, with year round sun, Dubai is the place to look where property prices have collapsed by 47%.

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There are still some owners who are still in limbo due to the special situation of their property. There are still several hundred dwellings which remain outside the urban plan. These are properties that were built on land designated for other uses such as public coastal land, green zones, etc.  These properties still need to go through the courts before there is a   final decision. Included are 297 homes in Banana Beach, 50 properties in Golf Rio Real, 30 properties in Torrevigía and several more. Their future will be decided by the courts and in the worst case scenario will be demolished. It was hoped that these were to be added to the Marbella’s Urban Plan but has not been the case.

For the properties still outside the urban plan there is still hope though as the courts will consider the interests of all involved, which will include those who occupy the properties.

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