Prices falls in Spain will continue in 2009 bringing misery to home owners, but those who are looking for a house will have a different view.  After 14 years of rampant growth and construction, the housing market now faces the total opposite.  Despite there gloom the official numbers do not provide a complete picture, looking between the lines of the headline figures, the changes are dramatic.  The housing ministry has informed that the price of new houses fell by 2.8% in 2008.  Tasadora Tinsa (private Spanish group) indicated that it was closer to 8.8%. At the same time the number of houses sold in the last 3^rd of the year dropped by 36.7%.  For freehold flats, sales were down 68%.  These numbers varied across Spain . 

For an individual looking to buy in this market, is it really the moment to look to buy in what will probably be the worst falls in a generation.  Experts believe that this provides a new and positive step for people looking to buy a first flat or house. In any case conditions have changed over the last 12 months, where as previously the house market was dominated by sellers who could name any price, now they are normally in debt, trying to get out of previously crazy investments.  Now new buyers are entering the market and finding the options to negotiate prices, resulting in a better year for them. 

Actually now prices are starting to reflect the crisis, this is good at the moment as the buyer has the power.  “As people are not expecting the prices to recover, the buyer has time to make up there mind.  This creates a lot of opportunities and possibilities; until the house market starts to stabilize”, said David Moya, director of Estate Agent Look and Find. The main drivers now, instead of being a developer mortgage, which many feel is now a trap, the buyer is more interested in the potential for growth in a recovery, and of course the price that can be negotiated.  The question all buyers seem to be asking, according to experts, is if prices are going to continue to fall?  Some experts are expecting that in the next few months the prices are unlikely to stabilise, due to the large the stock of existing houses for sale that has yet to be absorbed, and other experts are indicating that if you want to buy to buy now, rather than expecting the house prices to continue to fall, or risk disappointment.  Official numbers have said that house market in 2009, is expected to fall by 8 – 10%, the same as 2008. 

In this atmosphere to get the best deals is to buy a resale house, for which you can drop 20% of the asking price, but before buying you should check the price of the Meter Squared in the general area.  The picture for Spain generally is that prices fell in 2008, and are expected to continue through 2009.  This means that this is without doubt the best time to buy, and to negotiate big discounts on price. Is it possible that the number of house sold this year could increase from 300 000 to 400 000 in 2009, half the number in the boom years.

* In Spain banks are less inclined to give mortgages – if they do it, they will not generally give more than 80% of the value of the house.