Imogen Calderwood
SPAIN is still home to the world’s largest number of homeowners, despite the crippling recession.
An incredible 83% of Spaniards still own their homes, despite the high unemployment rate and the five-year housing crisis.
Statistics show that a further, 27% of Spaniards also own a second or holiday home, reported the Bank of Spain.
This is despite around a quarter of those second homeowners still having mortgage debts due on their primary home.
Home prices have fallen around 40% since 2007, and have yet to bottom out.
Estimates suggest prices will fall a further 10% to 15%. About 584000 dwellings are vacant in Spain, waiting to be sold, the government estimates.
The data revealed about 90% of Spanish families owned some sort of property in 2011, and dwellings accounted for 84% of the household wealth.
Half of all households in Spain have some sort of debt to pay with the average value of debt being €42,900.
Young families are especially burdened: 81% of young families, those where the main bread winner is under 35, have property-related debts.
What you mean is that they “own” a load of debt, most of it negative equity. Great…
What beggers belief is that many Spanish having worked in northern Europe and Scandinavia – did they not see the standard of construction in those countries?
To then return and accept the appalling way that housing is built in Spain suggests that they were all blind.
If these people returning home had refused to buy such crap then Spanish construction would have been forced to build homes/apartment blocks to a much higher standard and everybody would have gained including all the ex-pats who should have known better as well.
The government estimates there are 584,000 dwellings vacant – try 1 million +.
er, yes that what the article said Fred? Try reading things before jumping in with your constant sarcastic comments.
Do you talk like this face to face? Bet you’re a great person to know, or a notorious person to know more like!! ha ha
Get back to your croissants Stuart!
Fred, honestly out of interest, can you tell us all what you LIKE about living in Spain. Obviously other Spain bashing contributors like your aggressive mate above have left because they don’t fit in.
Can you actually bring yourself to answer this please?
You are a major contributor that brings this website to the depths for anyone reading that fits in, in Spain. Spain work’s for a lot of ex-pats (even with all it’s obvious corruption).
I’d take living here avoiding any problems Spain’s system throws at you (which is extremely minimal for most ex-pats), to going back to an overcrowded uk and it’s utterly terrible climate and all it’s problems/uncontrolled youth.