Released on: October 26, 2007, 11:24 am

Press Release Author: Jim watson

Industry: Real Estate

Press Release Summary: The last year has been one of mixed reviews for the Spanish
property market, to say the very least. The slowdown that has followed five boom
years has drawn a variety of reactions, varying from the \"crisis, what crisis?\"

Press Release Body: The last year has been one of mixed reviews for the Spanish
property market, to say the very least. The slowdown that has followed five boom
years has drawn a variety of reactions, varying from the \"crisis, what crisis?\" view
to the suggestion that the approaching hoofbeats of a crash were becoming audible.

Somewhere in between, the truth may lie. The market has indeed cooled down, just as
in Britain and, as in our own country, that is enough for some to predict doom and
gloom. Others suggest that the picture will be more complicated, with location being
a key issue in whether the prospects for price or availability of Spain properties
in any given area are good or bad.

One negative view was taken by Standard and Poor, which suggested this week that
Spain, Britain and Ireland would see \"varying degrees\" of slowdown, Thompson
Financial reports. It concluded that Britain would fare better than the other two.

Yet there clearly isn\'t as much pessimism around as some would suggest a forthcoming
crash would justify. For example, the first Spanish property auction site in Britain
is being launched this week, called Spanish Home Auction. That such a thing is
happening hardly amounts to a vote of no confidence in the market.

Other experts also differ. Expatica.com reported that the Economist Magazine felt
Spain was more vulnerable to a crash than America, which has seen a recent downturn,
since it had seen prices rise by 189 per cent in the past five years compared with
103 per cent in the US. In contrast, Deutsche Bank believes that the future is
bright, producing a report entitled Spain 2020 - the success story continues, which
states: \"The need for a correction is much smaller than often assumed.\"

Deutsche Bank bases its view on the belief that Spain\'s overall economic strength
means it is not overstretching itself. Instead, it suggests, the country will enjoy
a higher Gross Domestic Product than Germany or Italy by 2020.

What is more notable in Expatica\'s report, however, is that there are indeed, as in
Britain, significant variations in property prospects between locations. For
instance, it notes, property appraisal company Sociedad de Tasacion believes prices
may start falling on the outskirts of major cities, but not in the centres - it may
even rise in such places. Similarly, figures from real estate agents Expofincas
record falls in resale prices in the Madrid, Aragon and Navarre regions in the first
half of 2007, in contrast with the country as a whole where prices rose by 4.3 per
cent.

Such figures may match a trend seen in Britain, in which London, Scotland and
Northern Ireland have experienced the highest growth for various reasons, while
older trends, such as the closing of the gap between the northern and southern
halves of England, have gone into reverse. Expatica.com notes that if the Deutsche
Bank optimism is correct, now is a good time to invest in Spain in anticipation of a
sustainably bright future.

If, on the other hand, the picture is a distinctly mixed one from location to
location, the key for prospective investors will be to research where the hotspots
are in a market whose overall situation, as in Britain, may mask considerable
variation between locations.

Web Site: http://spain.assetz.co.uk

Contact Details: Address:Assetz House, Newby Road, Stockport,Cheshire,SK7 5DA

fax:0845 400 6010

email:linkexchangeseo@gmail.com