spanish economy looks to have troughed in first quarter but will it grow in the last
News Posted On: 17 November 2009
According to Eurostat's figures it appears that the Spanish economy troughed in the first quarter of this year.
In the first quarter the GDP contraction accelerated to 1.6%, from 1.1% in the last quarter of 2008, before slowing back down to 1.1% in the second quarter, and 0.3% in the third. All eyes are now intently watching to see if Spain can finally emerge from recession -- 2 quarters after its French and German rivals -- in the final quarter of 2009.
The economy is the biggest dampening factor on the Spanish housing market. Spain is still very popular with British and Irish overseas property buyers, but it really needs to see some major increases in domestic demand to start clearing the oversupply and get the foreigners really buying again.
The Spanish stimulus should have been spent on knocking down some of the empty developments, and allowing regional property markets somewhat of a fresh start that they can use to be more responsible about building permissions.
My uncle in law once asked me whether I thought Spanish property was a good investment because it was cheap. I said: no! Sometimes in the world of property -- like everything else -- just because it is cheap doesn't make it a bargain. However, if you can get a good price on an open market property in a good area that is not overdeveloped, then go for it.
The worry is that it may become oversupplied in the future, but that isn't much of a worry; if it was going to be overdeveloped, it would already be so.
View Spanish property for sale
Written by Liam Bailey
Back to news articles for this country
Latest Related News Articles in Spain
Girona Property Market Bucking the Trend
2012-01-31
One of the best performing property markets in Spain is Girona, according to independent research fr.....
Banks Offer Amazing Deals on Repossessed Properties in Spain
2012-01-10
In an attempt to reduce the amount of repossessed property on their books, Spanish banks are offerin.....
Foreign Buyers Being Tempted by Spanish Bargains
2012-01-07
Sales of residential property to foreigners living in Spain increased by 24.7% during the third quar.....
Will 2012 be the Year of the Spanish Recovery
2011-12-29
Spain crashed harder than most, and now going on for four years into the down cycle Spain has a moun.....
Ryanair Launches Dozens of New Spanish Flights for 2012
2011-12-21
Ryanair is planning to launch dozens more flights from the UK to Spain next year, due to traffic gro.....
Spain Property Good to Firm in Places
2011-11-29
It is getting harder and harder to doubt that the Spanish property market is seeing a recovery of so.....
Spain Property Experts Hopeful of New Stimulus Package
2011-11-22
Spanish property experts are hopeful that the recently elected government will quickly enact stimulu.....
Majorcan Property Market Looks Set to Remain Steady
2011-11-11
The property market in Majorca has performed relatively well this year, with sales well up on last y.....
Doubts Over Spanish Land Registry Plan to Make Info Available in English
2011-10-31
Making Land Registry information available in English could make matters worse for the Spanish prope.....
Prices in Spain Continued to fall but Luxury Property Performing Better
2011-10-25
According to the house price index from Tinsa, average residential property prices have dropped by 7.....