Property bargains in Spain as banks sell surplus stock

Houses and Flats for sale in Spanish Banks and Savings banks

The current economic crisis has forced many Spanish banks and building societies to put properties (the majority houses and flats) up for sale at significantly discounted prices or with some very interesting credit facilities for the consumer. The properties on sale are the result of repossessed properties from individual or business clients.

How to buy a house or flat from a Bank or Building Society

Properties for sale with Spanish Banks

PROPERTIES SANTANDER BANK: Up to 1,300 houses and flats have been put up for sale (around 400 have already been sold). Prices discounts range from between 20% and 30%. There are also some special credit facilities with some credits for 100% of the value of the property being offered to some clients over a 40 year period.

PROPERTIES BBVA: There are almost 1000 new houses and flats on offer in 5 regions of Spain and around 600 used houses and flats located throughout Spain (42 provinces). All properties are on sale to the general public. There are some very good offers such as a house in Madrid on sale at 2,232 euros per m2.

PROPERTIES BANCO POPULAR: This bank has more than 700 houses and flats on sale to the general public located throughout Spain. Most of the properties are in Barcelona where some very attractive prices can be found.

PROPERTIES BANCO SABADELL: In this case only land that can be developed on is on offer.

PROPERTIES BANESTO: Only new properties are on offer with around 1,300 houses and flats on sale throughout the Peninsula. There are some very interesting credit facilities on offer with 40 year mortgages with interest rates of Euribor + 0% for the first two years. An example of some of the attractive prices on offer is a two-bedroom house in Ensanche de Vallecas (Madrid) for 164,000 euros.

Properties for sale with Spanish Savings banks

PROPERTIES LA CAIXA: This has 2000 uses houses and flats on sale distributed throughout Spain (49 provinces). There are 320 properties on sale in Murcia. Minimum discounts start at 25% (with a further 5% for those clients whose salary is paid into the building society).

PROPERTIES CAJA MADRID: CajaMadrid has more than 1000 properties on sale mostly in Spain’s largest cities and along the coast. Special attention should be paid to properties offers in Madrid, Valencia, Catalonia and Murcia. The price of some properties has been discounted by as much as 40% and there are some very advantageous credit facilities on offer (Euribor +0,50% without commission). There are also some offers on properties for rent. For more information see: portal de vivienda de Caja Madrid.

PROPERTIES BANCAJA: Bancaixa has placed around 800 on sale located throughout 40 provinces. Weekly offers with three properties at specially discounted prices can be found on its website. More than half of the properties on sale are second homes located along the Valencian and Murcian coastline.

PROPERTIES CAIXA CATALUNYA: There are some 3,600 houses and flats on sale located throughout Spain. Around 1,700 properties have been discounted by as much as 30%. There are also 1,800 properties for rent at around 500 euros a month. Conditions include the possibility of the building society buying back the property if the owners face economic problems in the future.

PROPERTIES CAJA DE AHORROS DEL MEDITERRÁNEO (CAM): The CAM in Alicante has up to 2,500 properties on sale ranging from offices and garages to houses and flats. Price discounts are in the region of 20% to 50%. Direct sales are available and also potential buyers can place offers on properties as well as participating in property auctions.

Average price of property in Spain falls

Spanish estate agents lower their prices in direct competition with banks and building societies

Now that banks and building societies are entering into the direct sales of properties with offers that include not only large discounts but also facilities for financing transactions property developers have been forced to react with even larger discounts. One property developer, Metrovacesa, is leading the way with discounts of up to 55% on some of its properties on offer. Smaller less well known companies are also trying to get rid of their surplus stock of properties by offering discounts of between 40% and 60%.

The association of property developers has accused banks and building societies of ‘disloyal competition’ firstly for valuing properties well under their asking price and secondly for offering better mortgage deals. In an attempt to counter act this situation property developers have decided to launch large discounts over and above the 20% that many have been offering up to now.

In fact last week Metrovacesa completed a campaign in which some flats had been reduced by 55%. Discounts for properties in Madrid went up to 30% and 35% in Barcelona while in the parts of the Valencian Region and Andalucia discounts were between 40% and 55% which resulted in the sale of a third of the 247 properties on offer in just under two weeks. A spokesperson for the company explained that this was not the first time such offers had been launched and said that the flats on offer were the last flats on sale from many of its promotions.

Large companies are not the only ones involved in offering significant discounts. A company called Roan offered a variety of properties on special offer in its Madrid office. Over a period of 4 days around 5,700 people visited the agency in order to find out more information on 500 properties which were in the hands of property developers, private owners and financial institutions on sale in Madrid and the Mediterranean coast. As a result there were 184 sales but Roan believes that this number will rise to 300 and is planning similar events in other cities around Spain.

Spanish property developers are increasingly concentrating their strategies on direct discounts. The Business Group Ternum has reportedly obtained 1000 properties which it is planning to place on the market at discounts of between 35% and 40%. Furthermore, the buyer will not have to pay anything during the first year. Another formula which property developers are using to get rid of surplus stock is to auction them off.