Property in Spain

Spain's real estate market may still be some way from recovery but some vendors are able to sell at much less than they bought and still turn a profit, it has been revealed.

At first glance it's tricky to work out how buying a villa in Spain in 2000 for €122,000 and selling in 2010 for €85,000 can be seen as anything but an unmitigated disaster. In actuality, the client's getting a bargain and the vendor's making a profit.  That's because the vendor's British and currency exchanges work in their favour.

The decline in Spanish property prices is slowing, according to the latest published index but banks who own a massive amount of repossessed real estate could depress values in 2010 when they dump them on the market.

The latest Tinsa property price index for November shows that average prices fell by 6.6% over the last 12 months, down from 7.4% last month. But many in the industry point out that the index does not reflect what is actually happening on the ground as it is based on valuations, not actual transaction prices.