Valencia Property Blog

As we are now into February we thought it was time to give a little overview of the current market. This won't be a full investigation into everything that is happening but it is a quick look of what we are experiencing at the moment in the Valencia Property market and what we have learnt from other agents' experiences when talking to them.

Blink and It's Gone

One of our team is looking for an apartment to buy and rent out. Like me they want to put a lower price point to the rental in order to give people an option for renting that won't break the bank meaning they get a good tenant and the tenant gets a good deal. Three times this week they have been notified of potential properties in their price range and with the requirements they want and each time on clicking the link the advert was gone because the properties have been sold immediately.

I'm writing this on Saturday morning in the Cabanyal and we don't normally do visits at the weekend, you can see why here. Today we have four visits, one after the other, to an apartment that we have for sale that normally we don't get access to because it is consistently rented out. The owners even recently rejected a full price offer because... reasons.

Now having returned home we have one offer made and we may well get another, in other words once more, blink and it's gone.

What's Happening?

It's very simple really or to quote Bill "The Cigar" Clinton "It's the economy stupid!". Demand remains high and supply continues to dwindle. We need to ask the question why demand remains high though and why it looks like it will continue to rise.

One of the reasons is Germany, another is France, and that's all to do with the Eurozone. Growth in the Eurozone is pretty stagnant in the main economies of the area, Germany especially and France. Their economies are essentially flatlining as they continue to try and placate nationalist right wing parties by restricting immigration and concentrating on not at all important culture wars. Spain's government does this to a certain extent with the truly pathetic and xenophobic attempts to restrict demand by targetting foreign non EU buyers but mostly they are following centre-left growth policies prioritising people as opposed to capital. This has meant that Spain's economy is growing, say it quietly, massively, the highest growth in the Eurozone. And that attracts even more people to the country while at the same time making a larger pool of people within the country wanting to buy. At the same time the European Central Bank is cutting interest rates to try and stimulate the economies of Germany and France and this has the knock on effect here of stimulating even more demand, see below.

Growth in Spain was 3.2% in 2024. Four times higher than the Eurozone average. The mad thing is that because of populism the government managing this is extremely unpopular.

Ben's Bluesky Account can be found here

Also labour market reforms to incentivise permanent contracts and increasing the minimum wage massively has led to unemployment falling greatly. It's still high in European terms but it's way way down on what the Spanish are used to. Also, you can see below, that the unemployed numbers fell by 265,000 in 2024 while employment rose by 468,000. this is mostly down to immigration with people coming to Spain to work but also young people coming out from University and studying and managing to find work. These people are looking for somewhere to live of course.

And there lies an issue, building rates and new property completions are still really low meaning very little new housing stock coming onto the market. Equally, and as we have mentioned on these pages many times before, people are reticent to rent out their second property, due to the perception of squatters and legal issues, meaning there is a massive scarcity of supply in the rental market. When you take into account the immigration numbers and add the newly working ex-student numbers into that then there is a ramping up of demand for rental properties. And those that cannot rent look to buy too because interest rates are coming down and mortgage rates as a result look extremely attractive to those facing high rental prices. Also, everyone that sees that rental prices have exploded and has some spare cash is putting it into property to get a good return. Again demand increases.

Jeremy's Bluesky Account can be found here

Spain's real GDP has now grown in percentage terms more than Germany since the 2008 financial crisis despite taking a much bigger hit during initially and then again during Covid. This is starting to get into unprecendented territory.

Some would argue, and possibly with good reason, about the successful integration of immigrants into Spain. The rise of far right Neo-Nazi party Vox, although less than far right parties in other countries, is concerning and this high immigration and low building rate does lend itself to the creation of tensions promoted by grifters wanting to exploit "economic concerns" and even the Spanish government itself wanting to look tough on "rich foreigners coming here and taking our houses".

What's The Advice Then?

You have to be ready to move when you want to buy something here. Blink and it's gone! This means you need to have your ducks in a row, your money needs to be ready, your mortgage should be pre-approved, your agent should know about everything in the market (That's us by the way), your agent should know exactly what you want (As should you), your bank account needs to be set up, your NIE should be approved and collected and your presence here on the ground to look is also quite important. Equally you should be ready to say no to something and then work with us to find your perfect place after you go, maybe via video calls and the like once we know exactly what is right for you. And most importantly, if something looks great and suits you then you have to realise that just like you there are lots of other people who will think so and they will jump on it. Blink and ...

However, if you get here and tell us "I'm here now for a few days and I want to look at something", it won't happen. We will already be busy with clients who contacted us weeks and months ago. Just this week we had someone contact us to say they were thinking of taking a day trip to Valencia from France to look at buying something and this morning a mail from someone telling us they are here today, Saturday, and will be leaving Tuesday and they want to see things to buy or possibly rent before then. That is simply not gonna happen. Weekends are semi-sacred because we work so much during the week (Despite our visits this morning) and Monday we are already all busy. A day trip from France is a bit weird. To read about how to work with us here at Valencia Property, click here or below on the image.

Offers and Common Sense

We've said it before and we'll say it again, don't expect big discounts from asking price. Just this week we were told by one agent that they are changing the way they accept offers. They are inviting sealed bids by a certain date and they expect to sell at over asking price. We won't be doing that or even working with them on this system. We expect that if you offer asking price you should get the property. That's how it has always worked in Spain and we don't really want the Scottish sealed bid process here as it is likely to let a lot of people down.

Common sense dictates that in a high demand, low supply market moving quickly that you make "good" offers. If you bid low you will be locked out by owners lining up more visits immediately. If the property you like is the first property you see then don't think there are ten others waiting to be seen, there aren't. We often get the right property on the first visit because we listen to what you say and what you want and we haven't got time to waste showing you unsuitable properties first. Equally, there aren't many of those either currently.

Property of the Week

This neat and tidy looking house is a solid and reliable property perfect for a nice family, completely inoffensive in style and character on a sensible flat and private plot, easy on the eye, suitable for all ages and guaranteed to do the job. Welcome to the Coldplay of homes.

This 5 Bedroom popular beat combo formed in 2008 is very nicely put together and offers a solid dependable base for Everyday Life. Positively MOR in a clean cut and comfortable neighbourhood, you certainly won’t get Lost! You can find your way with A Sky Full of Stars at Midnight and it’s only a short walk to L’Eliana, a Paradise to the locals.

With all modern conveniences there really is nothing to Fix You know, and with an optimum energy rating you will benefit from the Higher Power, you can Talk and say In My Place, My Universe, it’s Magic!

So the Clocks are ticking, but Don’t Panic, Everything’s Not Lost and you have done The Hardest Part, here there are no Sparks or Shivers, nor a Rush of Blood to the Head, send us A Message, it’s really no Trouble.

What If you take a look at Something Just Like This?

A Bit of Personal News

So I bought a restaurant... I actually bought it a few months back but we still haven't started the modernisation because... reasons (Licences from the town hall). If you want to follow the journey of putting together a modernisation project here in Valencia then just subscribe to our YouTube Channel or follow me on Tik Tok or Bluesky for more things as they happen... or just after. Anyway take a look at what I bought.