The Latest Spanish Property News from Kyero.com
November 6th, 2007
Last week we updated our Spanish house price index and posted an article comparing our statistics to those from the Spanish Ministry of Housing. The whole price index section also got a bit of a makeover to make it easier to find price-related articles.
If you feel like having a laugh, read our first news story entitled More Building Land Needed.
A spokesman for G14 - representing 14 of the largest property developers in Spain - claims that what's needed in Spain is more land for more building. I can see how that might benefit the members of G14 - but not Spain's economy or it's property market.
This story reminded me how the news circulating in Spain differs vastly from the perspective 'outsiders' have of what's going on within the country.
To use a Formula 1 example, within Spain, Lewis Hamilton was almost universally portrayed as the sly back-stabber and Fernando Alonso, the hard-done-by saint. Precisely the opposite perspective of the UK press.
To use a property-related example, when speaking to Spanish friends from Madrid last week about the land-grab laws in Valencia - they had never heard of there being a problem at all - nothing.
I know that the UK press tends to make a mountain out of a molehill in this respect but there is a real problem in Valencia - and it affects Spanish as well as foreign property buyers - yet it had never make the headlines in Madrid.
Just like the comments from the G14 spokesman, we try to present a range of perspectives on the Kyero news page so you have access to different points of view. We're sometimes criticised for painting an overly-optimistic or an overly-pessimistic view of the Spanish property market - in roughly equal measure. I guess that means we're successfully walking the line between both extremes - what do you think?
Next week, I'm off to Las Vegas to attend the 2007 Realtors Conference and see how we get on at the International Property Awards on the 16th of November. Kyero.com is up against RightMove and Daft for the 'Best International Property Portal' award. I'll let you know how we get on but I won't be holding my breath against such strong competition. Whatever happens we feel quite proud to be rubbing shoulders with the big boys of the industry.
Martin Dell, Kyero.com
If you feel like having a laugh, read our first news story entitled More Building Land Needed.
A spokesman for G14 - representing 14 of the largest property developers in Spain - claims that what's needed in Spain is more land for more building. I can see how that might benefit the members of G14 - but not Spain's economy or it's property market.
This story reminded me how the news circulating in Spain differs vastly from the perspective 'outsiders' have of what's going on within the country.
To use a Formula 1 example, within Spain, Lewis Hamilton was almost universally portrayed as the sly back-stabber and Fernando Alonso, the hard-done-by saint. Precisely the opposite perspective of the UK press.
To use a property-related example, when speaking to Spanish friends from Madrid last week about the land-grab laws in Valencia - they had never heard of there being a problem at all - nothing.
I know that the UK press tends to make a mountain out of a molehill in this respect but there is a real problem in Valencia - and it affects Spanish as well as foreign property buyers - yet it had never make the headlines in Madrid.
Just like the comments from the G14 spokesman, we try to present a range of perspectives on the Kyero news page so you have access to different points of view. We're sometimes criticised for painting an overly-optimistic or an overly-pessimistic view of the Spanish property market - in roughly equal measure. I guess that means we're successfully walking the line between both extremes - what do you think?
Next week, I'm off to Las Vegas to attend the 2007 Realtors Conference and see how we get on at the International Property Awards on the 16th of November. Kyero.com is up against RightMove and Daft for the 'Best International Property Portal' award. I'll let you know how we get on but I won't be holding my breath against such strong competition. Whatever happens we feel quite proud to be rubbing shoulders with the big boys of the industry.
Martin Dell, Kyero.com