Spains energy certificate ratings explained

03:44 PM · Comments Off on Spains energy certificate ratings explained · Categories: News from Marbella Costa del Sol

Since its entry on 1st of June 2013 much has been said about the energy performance certificate but always from the point of view of the owner who is the person required by law to obtain the certificate, however some see it as another tax the government has pushed through  and even a way to create jobs.

energy certificate

It is now law to have an energy certificate if you have a property for sale or rent

Here we easily explain how to interpret some of the ratings etc:

– Note that there are potential ratings can be a, b , c, d , e, f , g .

– Note that no average rating is between letters, so these letters mark the ” thumbs up” on energy efficiency

– Where a, b and c are indicative of lower energy consumption , and g marks greater consumption

– In this sense could be estimated , for example, for a standard household with an average receipt of supplies of 60 € / month if I had assumed that rating :

a spend less than average ( up to 35 € )
b spend less than average (35 € to 45 € )
c spend less than average (45 € to 54 € )
d spend half (57 € to 60 € )
e spend half (60 € to 66 € )
f  spend more than average (66 € to 75 € )
g spend more than average ( minimum 80 € )

Remember that all contracts issued since 1st of June 2013 should have its certificate of efficiency, but it never hurts to request information from the owner of the monthly spending on energy, especially in the case of rental properties.

If you have a property on the market for sale or rent it is NOW THE LAW to have an energy certificate available to show prospective buyers or tenants, you could risk a fine if you do not have one.

For more information about obtaining an Energy Certificate for your property Click Here

Marbella is weathering the storm better than than the rest of Spain

01:34 PM · Comments Off on Marbella is weathering the storm better than than the rest of Spain · Categories: News from Marbella Costa del Sol · Tags: , , ,

Not one, not two …but Spain takes four quarters to lead the ranking of declines in housing prices in the euro zone.

From the second half of 2012 has caught the national brick over from Ireland in the fall, one of the victims of the housing boom, to star in the biggest slump in house prices in all euro countries last year ( -13.7 %).

Spain is having difficulty digesting the adjustment housing prices more than other countries in the euro zone, in the last twelve months the country has led in the declines in the value of homes on-year, only once during this period Spain was relegated, however little to second place, this occurred in the fourth quarter of last year when the price of houses in Greece fell by 13% compared to 12.8 % in Spain.

spanish_house_price_index

The leadership of the Spanish residential market in lower prices in the euro area occurs after the falling value of homes in Ireland has moderated, the so -called Celtic Tiger was in the first half of 2012 the country  with the biggest fall in the price of housing, in particular it fell 17.2% in the first quarter and 15.4 % in the second last.

In those months the value of houses in Spain depreciated by 12.6% and 14.4 %, respectively, however unlike the Irish case, in Spain fall rates have not been moderate but have even increased, for example between July and September 2012 , this figure fell by 15.2 %.

Marbella property prices (Malaga)

Marbella seems to be weathering the storm better than than the rest of Spain with its micro-climate where property prices have fell over the last few years, could it be the right time to start looking for that place in the sun?

Average house prices – Marbella
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
2005 No data No data € 572K € 570K
2006 € 530K € 535K € 541K € 578K
2007 € 545K € 510K € 512K € 513K
2008 € 562K € 603K € 675K € 653K
2009 € 653K € 676K € 688K € 688K
2010 € 696K € 658K € 654K € 673K
2011 € 654K € 639K € 650K € 648K
2012 € 650K € 635K € 598K € 608K
2013 € 637K € 596K € 613K No data

The importance of due diligence in the property valuation process

01:31 PM · Comments Off on The importance of due diligence in the property valuation process · Categories: Marbella apartments, News from Marbella Costa del Sol

The real estate consultants association of Spain ( ACI ) has published a document that discusses the importance of due diligence and proper conduct in the valuation process of real estate assets, so for example, to prepare the sale of a property it is necessary to analyze those in the area of ​​influence or compare the property with other similar transactions.

The ACI indicates that when an asset sale process is prepared it is essential to have accurate and organized information to allow potential buyers to know what the reality of it and the factors taken into account for in its financial proposal, this process of documentation and information held within an organized sales process is called due diligence Information or vendor due diligence.

Information due diligence is a necessary tool when it comes to conduct a competitive process with the objective of maximizing the value of the asset for the owner and to meet deadlines, also keep in mind that a process of this magnitude without sufficient information may discourage a significant number of investors who are not willing to mobilize resources in the study of the operation

The goal of due diligence is to provide Information of trust and transparency of the relationship between the parties involved in the process, and thus its performance was often undertaken by an independent third party.

estate_agency

The association notes that international real estate consultants are accustomed to perform this process but it has not been common practice in Spain that is until foreign investors began to demand it.

The advantages:

– Transparency of information : all participants have the same information

– Control over the questions and requests for additional information

– Brings credibility to the information content of the dossier

– Rigorous : offers are made taking into account the reality described in the due diligence

– Shortens the process and reduces individual requests for information

– Identify in advance those issues on which misunderstandings may arise

All this information is available to participants through the process called data-room, which is just a point of information where when interested in a project you can share the available data

Currently new technologies for remote access to documents in digital format are used by the so called virtual data-room ,which maximizes security and confidentiality of information at a lower cost and with greater efficiency.

What is it ?

Due diligence is a detailed study that completely covers everything you need to implement whilst in the process of buying or selling a house:

– Analysis and study of the property from a business perspective and value estimation

– Audits ( due diligence) on facilities and urban and structural aspects of the property

– Advice in negotiating and closing the transaction

From a commercial point of view, the main objective is to analyze the influence of the active area through the completion of a market study where the following aspects are taken into account :

– Availability of assets similar

– Properties for sale in the area of influence

– Requested prices for comparable assets within the area of ​​influence

– Analysis of market behavior in recent years from the point of view of income

– Historical comparable transactions both by location and by type of asset

– Analysis of unit prices and yields comparable transactions

Parallel to business analysis, it is necessary to conduct an analysis of the characteristics of the active real estate encompassing the following:

– Location of the property

– Representativeness

– Architectural uniqueness

– Visibility

– Communications and access

– State of the building and facilities

In reference to a technical analysis of the asset, it must include three main parts: planning, architecture and facilities.

Urban analysis :

– Urban characteristics of the environment

Rules applied in the house:
planning and management level of the property record
building conditions
study uses
licenses urban analysis , process monitoring and processing:
local licenses ( provided by the property)
licenses tenants ( those provided by the client and / or tenants )
summary, recommendations and conclusions

– Architectural analysis :

visual perception of the property
description of the building
analysis of the building and the project as built or building book
structures
construction
facades
cover
communication nuclei
Fire protection . passives
economic forecasts
photographs
summary, recommendations and conclusions
analysis facilities:

– Introduction :

Details of the visit
documentation
air conditioning system
wiring
Installation p.c.i.
plumbing and sanitation
several facilities
comments on the facilities
economic forecasts
photo report
summary, recommendations and conclusions

– Surface analysis :

surface analysis (if available in CAD ​​drawings of the building)
cad drawings available validation ( comparison of dimensional consistency in situ )
measurement of floor area
measurement of floor space
uses breakdown surfaces

BBVA Bank announce the property prices in Spain now are the lowest we will see

12:51 PM · Comments Off on BBVA Bank announce the property prices in Spain now are the lowest we will see · Categories: News from Marbella Costa del Sol · Tags: , ,

The property arm of BBVA bank Anida has become the developer of the moment, in the past two years it has completed more than 3,000 housing units and by the end of 2014 will have provided over 5,000. In an interview Xavier Sainz, the director of Anida, says the housing market has bottomed and that “what we see coming from now on is the start to a slow recovery in prices and demand “.

Question : How do you see the real estate sector currently? And what about prices?

Answer : I see real estate sector having starting a strong recovery since the beginning of 2013 and especially before summer there has been a feeling that we have bottomed out and that starting from now it will not go further downwards, but stabilize and we will see a start of a slow recovery in prices and also in demand.

spain_property

BBVA Banks property arm Anida says prices in Spain have bottomed out

Question : So what factors lead him to believe that the market is recovering?

Answer : Mainly from all the reforms that have been made in Spain in recent years, these have now begun to have the desired effect, there is a great demand both from foreign and the domestic market, having liquidity available to start investing for both home ownership and as an investment and the thinking is that the time to invest is now because we will not see a lot more price decreases as has happened in recent years.

Question : How do you think things will evolve for housing prices for the remainder of the year and in 2014?

Answer : There are areas with higher demand that are already producing a recovery of the prices and also we are seeing prices starting to climb month to month in general. Estimates that the prices have bottomed out, what we are seeing is that the price of sales transactions currently being closed is the lowest that we will see and from now on a plateau and then a recovery closely linked to the arrival of foreign investment and also the slowdown in job losses will follow.

Question : What factors have pushed you to build housing developments ?

Answer : Clearly demand  in areas where we see an unmet demand for housing, that is where we invest. In the last two years we have completed more than 3,000 homes a year and from now until the end of 2014 we will sell more than 5,000 newly built houses.

Question : What is the type of houses being sold?

Answer : We are committed to build a home that has better value than the rest, that is what is helping us to sell, when in areas where housing is needed and where the property is located in an area of demand and at the right price. We have housing at all levels and for all tastes, what are most in demand are homes with 3 bedrooms.

Question : What do you think about renting property?

Answer : Renting is a way to meet the housing needs of any citizen and the decision between buying and selling is influenced by the current interest rates, the prospect of appreciation in housing and labour geographical mobility buyer / tenant. BBVA does also have rental housing developments available.

Have property prices in Marbella stabilized?

02:13 PM · Comments Off on Have property prices in Marbella stabilized? · Categories: News from Marbella Costa del Sol · Tags: , ,

After a price drop of up to 40% since the start of the crisis, the housing market could begin to stabilise and even rebound, with the arrival of international investors keen to buy property in Spain, according to information provided by the private wealth management Inverbanca, the company said, “this is the beginning of a slow economic recovery and on a European level and in particular on a Spanish level” which could mark the turning point that would start the new path to higher priced housing.

property-marbella

Have property prices stabilized in Marbella?

Inverbanca data points out that although in many areas of Spain the value of the property is falling there are places where the price per square meter has stabilized, as is the case of Marbella on the Costa del Sol, with a price of 5,250 euros per square metre, in fact in some of these areas prices have even begun to rise slowly, as in Burgos and Soria with increases of 4.1% and 5%, respectively.

In addition, the company added that in recent months it has seen an increase of foreign investors interested in investing in equity income, ” which predicts an improvement for the Spanish real estate sector and gradually begins to see signs of appreciation in the housing market in certain areas”

 

Spain awarded 1.8 billion euros of EU money to help under 25´s find work

02:39 PM · Comments Off on Spain awarded 1.8 billion euros of EU money to help under 25´s find work · Categories: News from Marbella Costa del Sol · Tags: , , ,

Recently Mariano Rajoy has been in Paris participating in the second seminar on promoting youth employment in the European Union, a meeting joined by twenty four heads of State and Government of the EU, Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, declared to the authorities that Spain will use the 1.8 billion euros of European Union finances with regard to youth employment assigned to Spain, around the endeavours of its Entrepreneurship and Youth Employment Strategy, and will achieve this task at the earliest opportunity.

Rajoy revealed that the Government of Spain will publish an official document to the European Union in December outlining the way the funds will probably be invested, and also particularly talked about scholarships, National Insurance credit plans and taxation cuts in some areas. The president explained the money is going to be used on “programs which support the younger generation to embark on entrepreneurial activity if he or she desires to do so, as well as plans which permit organisations to employ the younger generation”.

Throughout the meeting, the Prime Minister maintained that the countries economy has to grow to generate work opportunities and needs to apply particular procedures in order to resolve the difficulties experienced by the country’s younger generation.

Mariano Rajoy

Spain is to be awarded 1.8 billion to aid with youth unemployment problems

Regarding economic growth, Rajoy guarded the fiscal debt consolidation policies as well as structural reforms applied by his administration, emphasising they are at this point generating good results and pointed out the reality that Spain has created economic growth the first time since the first quarter of 2011, although “nevertheless somewhat small however a positive outcome nevertheless”, and declared he feels that the pattern will probably continue on in to the fourth quarter of 2013.

The Prime Minister additionally mentioned that the quantity of the younger generation aged between 18 and 25 who had been without a job as of the 31st October 2013 was less than it had been a year ago, a occurrence not seen since 2007.

Mariano Rajoy declared how the Government’s approach from now on is going to be targeted at accomplishing 3 goals: carrying on with the structural reforms; dealing with the credit issue; as well as attempting to increase training.

Particularly with regards to the situation of training, Rajoy declared one of many challenges talked about lately is the need to have individuals with training in the electronic digital world.

He stated: “You will find 300,000 jobs in Europe not being filled due to a insufficient qualified professionals and it’s also believed there may be 900,000 vacancies in The European Union in 2015 in most fields associated with the electronic digital agenda. We are going to have to concentrate on these kinds of challenges; we shall have to try to make sure training covers these types of specific niche market job areas, that could become extremely significant”.

Mariano Rajoy mentioned that even though Spain possesses amongst the greatest unemployment problems in Europe, he is convinced numerous good decisions have already been undertaken and advancement is moving in the right direction. “therefore I’m confident that all the efforts being created from the men and women of Spain will certainly result in tangible results”, he came to the conclusion.