Immediately, after the Second World War in 1945, the general consensus of opinion was that there was a huge glut of ships.
You couldn’t give them away. Ships cost too much to maintain and there was no use for them after the conflict.
The consensus was wrong. The war had increased the desire for international goods (like Pizza from Italy) to such an extent that international trade doubled from pre-war levels by the end of the 1950’s.
With hindsight, there was in fact a latent shortage of ships but the market didn’t recognise it.
It sounds like a crazy question but could there be a parallel with Spanish housing market today?
There are between 800,000 and 1 million empty properties in Spain today depending on which figures you believe. Roughly 65% of them are in coastal areas.
The consensus is that most of them are badly built and in sub prime locations.
However the truth is that most of the time, these two things are not built into the price. Developers and banks are still trying to sell at prices that do not reflect what the market is now willing to pay.
The overseas property market is driven by convenience and price. If you could buy a completed (non-fractional) apartment for £10k, would you be willing to travel an hour and half from the nearest international airport to get there? I might, provided I could visit it first to check the quality.
Spanish tourism numbers are the one bright spot on a dark horizon. The crisis has if anything increased the desire of tourists to visit as they expect to get a good deal. There will always be a market for cheap holidays and holiday homes in the sun.
Many people tell me the overseas property market will never be the same again. Over the long term, I’m not so sure.
It’s the entrepreneurs with the vision to buy in bulk now at rock bottom prices who will be the players in tomorrow’s market.
Some of the developments may have to be bulldozed but my guess is that these will be the minority.
Everything has its price even if that price is negative and you have pay people to take developments off your hands.
Source global edge
For spanish bank repossessions in Marbella CLICK HERE
For spanish repossessions across the country CLICK HERE
For repossessed plots CLICK HERE
