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Puerto Banus is a well known destination all over Europe, primarily because of its flashy marina and openly wealthy clientele. With huge boats moored in the harbour and Lambourghini´s doing the circuit, ensuring holiday makers watch in awe at some of the wealthiest individuals in world.

Over the last few years there has been a big price correction in the area and a case in point is being able to purchase an apartment in Dame De Noche, a development close to the marina for €165,000. The apartment has great mountain views and access to a host of on-site ammenties including tennis, pools and 24-hour security.The golf courses of Nueva Andalucia are all close by and given the accessibility of this apartment, rental investment is a possibilty.

With the recent…

Romana Playa in Elviria is situated close to the undisputed best beach on the Costa Del Sol. Near to the five star Don Carlos hotel with its great beach bar and never ending list of facilities, this apartment has been reduced to €107,000 and will prove a real winner when it comes to rentability.

Elviria is located east of Marbella and is home to several great golf courses wrapped around some of the most beautiful beautiful real estate on the Costa Del Sol. There are great restaurants close by including the Beach Hut and El Lago, allowing you to enjoy sea and golf views whilst enjoying great international cuisine.

This region has long been associated with high level, costly apartments and villa so the above property represents a great opportunity for…

Marbella has finally approved a draft of a new town plan, that will hopefully alleviate some of the contentious issues surrounding the licensing problems that have plagued the region for the last ten years. The new plan will amend the 1986 version that has been ignored regularly, leading to thousands of illegally built homes in the area.

The updated plan will make legal over 16,500 properties and will in the process end years of heartache and worry that the unsuspecting owners have had to endure. The plan is in direct contravention to the expectations of the local government in Seville because over 500 occupied homes will be made legal.

The local government needs to realise that corruption in the town hall should not mean penalizing innocent purchasers,…

Astonishing isn´t it, both experts and homeowners have been proven wrong again with news of another house price gain. Nationwide, the UK mortgage specialist, has published July´s figures and amazingly further gains are evident. The lender commented that this is directly attributed to family home sales in "desirable areas".

Average house prices rose from £156,442 to £158,871 in July demonstrating a 1.3% rise, making a total of a 1.3% increase in prices since the start of the year. This will mean there is the possibilty of prices being higher come the end of the year than they were at the beginning.

These figures, experts believe, is due to lack of property availablity brought about because low mortgage rates are helping people stay put in their homes.…

Former Land Securities Director Mike Hussey has started looking for financial backers in order to start yet another distressed asset fund. He will partner with Neil Jones, previous head of the European division of Grosvenor Estates, the Duke of Westminsters property company.

They are looking to secure around £150m and are hoping to gear up the buying power to an estimated £500m with debts. They are also looking to take an unconventional approach, wanting a fund that will be more in line with their investors wishes - a rare thing indeed!

They will be looking for distressed assets in both England and Europe. They are looking to build a porfolio of "real scale" according to friends, and will then decide if it would be viable to float on the stock…

Alan Sugar the British multimillionaire has presented a deal for the Byblos hotel, that will secure a property valued at €39,000,000 for a staggering €3,000,000!

The proposed deal is a result of Aifos, the hotel developer, being unable to keep up with payments to the Bank of Scotland who have now put the 5 star hotel up for auction. Alan Sugars property company Amsprop Spain S.L. has placed the bid in and according to Spanish law if a larger counter offer is not received within a 10 day period, the sale will go through.

Aifos have certainly been at the centre of much controversy over the past few years, with corruption charges, licensing issues and a wholly dissatisfied string of customers. The group bought the Byblos hotel is 2005 for an undisclosed…

As I have explained here in my previous REW blog post, Los Arqueros Golf and Country club in Benahavis has some good opportunities currently. There are several great property developments, the majority of which were constructed by Taylor Woodrow España over a period of approximately 5 years.

This development was originally owned by a Swedish individual who unfortunately fell on hard times and sold the entire estate for a reported €5m to the England based developer Taylor Woodrow. Its fair to say they marketed each consecutive project aggressively through selected high profile agencies on the coast. Fast forward five years to 2008 and the company had some difficulties with banking covenants and as a result of this their share price dropped…

The Wall Street Journal ran an article yesterday about the current high price reduction properties available in the Costa Del Sol, Spain. The post explained how buses of interested parties view foreclosed (repossessed) properties, looking to bag a bargain.

I have seen a number of tours that seem to be promoting this type of inspection visit and worry about the credibilty of some of these operations. My philosophy has always been that if you develop a strong relationship with a handful of quality realtors you will get access to some genuine bargains. Several of these tours I have seen simply travel from one developer to another and are offered their excess stock. Whilst there is nothing wrong with this, because there are some good deals, I think that…