Greater transparency for the Spanish property market

New measures to improve transparency in the Spanish property market have been announced by Spain's Minister of Development, Jose Blanco.

Appearing before the Parliamentary Housing Commission to explain his department's priorities for housing, Blanco said that steps will be taken to make Spain more attractive to overseas buyers. He said: "With an eye on the international market, we will take steps to reinforce the legal protection of people who buy a home in our country."

Blanco said that the government wanted overseas buyers to have greater confidence in the Spanish property market, following all the negative media reports over the last few years.

One of these measures will be to protect people who buy in good faith from the negative consequences of buying an illegal home, unless the legal problems were recorded in the property register. The Spanish government is also actively trying to reduce the volume of new build homes in Spain coming onto the market and says it will construct more of the type of properties overseas nationals may wish to buy.

Blanco also talked about the need for further price cuts to make housing more affordable and in order to tackle the country's excess supply of properties. This is despite the fact that values have already dropped dramatically across some parts of the country since the market peak in 2006/7. He said: "The principal way to get the stock absorbed is one of the market's own mechanisms, to offer more competitive prices for those types of homes and land where the oversupply is more evident."

Clare Nessling, Conti's Operations Director, says: "We fully welcome these new measures and hope that they'll help to rebuild confidence in the Spanish property market. Despite the doom and gloom, Spain has a lot to offer, and it's still the second most popular location with our clients. Buyers are in a strong position due to the number of homes available and historically low mortgage rates.

"There are many banks and more developers with a variety of properties on their hands which they must sell, and some real bargains can be found. The core appeal of Spain hasn't changed, so Brits will remain attracted to the sun, sea and sangria and no doubt will return once confidence is restored. Financial institutions there still have a healthy appetite to lend to non-residents, and mortgage rates start from just 2.27 per cent available at present."