The busy summer, the truth about Spanish property prices, Chicken Marbella, Iraqi Dream Homes, the Lion King (kind of) plus our top drawer listings. I'm spent.
News
Costa Comeback!
Sur in English
Costa del Sol summer tourism figures have shown an end to the decline in visitor numbers that has been seen every summer since 2002, with tourism authorities confident that the boost will be sustained through to the end of September.
Hotels and property investment holiday homes on the Costa del Sol achieved a 90 per cent occupancy rate over the summer months, with more than two million overnight hotel and jet to let stays, said the Costa del Sol tourist board.
The increase through August by five per cent on 2004 figures was achieved despite the number of beds in the Costa del Sol needing to be filled every summer rising by 4,000 over the last year.
July figures rose by two per cent on the same period of 2004, with a 70 per cent bed occupancy rate. Tourism officials have stressed that the increased returns were a result of redoubled efforts to draw visitors back to the region.
"Now we have to do a lot more to achieve what before we could do with just four telephone calls", Jose Prieto, the president of the hoteliers association Aehcos told Spanish newspaper Sur.
The authorities also pointed out that while visitor numbers have crept back up from the lows of 2003/2004 visitors have been less keen to spend while on holiday, a reflection of the lagging consumer confidence of much of northern Europe.
Mr Prieto believes that the market has been buoyed by an increasing trend of discounted last minute bookings offered on jet to let websites, property investment holiday rental sites and by travel operators such as Thomas Cook.
An increase in interest from domestic, Spanish visitors has also been noticeable said Costa del Sol travel agents spokesman Pedro Garcia, with the increases in Spanish tourism playing a larger role than a major revival of foreign visitors in the regions recovery.
Tourism officials agree that visitor numbers will stay up through September, with the Junta de Andalucia predicting a 1.7 per cent rate of growth in the region, and the Costa del Sol tourist board expecting a three per cent boost.
Rather than Spanish property losing value, the first quarter of 2005 saw price rises of 4.2 percent, and appreciation of approximately 25 to 30 percent in certain areas (source: Spanish Red Guide 2006). This is supported by recent figures published by the largest independent Spanish property portal, Kyero, which indicate that Spain continues to be a growing market.
Martin Dell, Managing Director of Kyero, believes that recent claims of a price crash are inaccurate: "My impression is that it's primarily properties at the very top end of the market that are experiencing slight price erosion, most notably in some of Spain's more developed areas. That's not the same thing at all as a general slump in the price of all Spanish property."
The statistics compiled by Kyero support the case for there being little evidence of a general price decline. While the Costa Blanca has seen prices for a four-bedroom property decrease by 5.8 percent to 356,000 Euros since June 2005, prices in the Costa del Sol have remained constant. Canary Island properties have seen increases of 60,000 Euros, or 14.9 percent, for four-bedroom homes.
Similarly, prices in Spain's less-developed regions remain steady, and have risen in many instances. The price of a two-bedroom property in Tarragona has increased by 18.7 percent from 150,000 Euros to 178,000 Euros. Similarly, a two-bed property in the up-and-coming Costa del Azahar has appreciated by 30,000 Euros (20.3 percent) since June. Martin Dell says: "Buyers are always looking outside of the more developed areas in search of a bargain, and it is in these areas that significant growth in property prices is evident. Even so, prices in the old favourites remain steady."
As well as providing free downloads of the price reports, Kyero's website also details almost 60,000 properties for sale and to rent from 400 agents throughout Spain. Each time they display a property, Kyero also show a number of average price calculations to enable the visitor to make a quick and easy price check.
The statistics published by Kyero strongly indicate that Spanish property is still accruing in value, albeit at a slower rate compared to previous years. As Martin Dell says: "These reports enable purchasers to make better-informed decisions and also serve to demonstrate that the market remains healthy, and still offers good investment potential."
Visit the Kyero web site for free download of the price guides and price trend reports.
Designed to service the needs of English-speaking property seekers, Kyero is the largest collection of thousands of Spanish properties for sale and to rent from hundreds of independent estate agents throughout Spain.
Frontline penthouse apartment with stunning views of Mijas Golf. 2 beds / 2 baths, sold unfurnished. Non standard features include cream marble floors, air conditioning in lounge and in both bedrooms, wooden kitchen tops. Comes with garage and storeroom. Lift to all floors from the garage. 60m2 solarium terrace Apartamento ático en primera linea con estupendas vistas hacia Mijas Golf. 2 dormitorios / dos baños. Se vende sin amueblar. Se incluye solería de mármol de color crema, aire acondicionado en el salón y en ambos dormitorios, acabados de madera en la cocina. Se incluye garage y trastero. Ascensor desde todas las plantas. 60m2 de terraza solarium.
Diana Morales announce RELO membership - the Marbella based agent is now part of a 650 strong worldwide affiliation, offering specialist relocation services.
Do you know what A-day is? Nope, and neither apparently does anyone else. Its the day next year that sees the SIPPS legislation come into force, allowing people to invest in real estate as part of their pension plan. Read more
Chicken Marbella - not an insult but a recipe - Find it here
Blue Heaven go shopping for a new boat - the Puerto Banus based company who specialise in making yachting affordable by offering syndicated ownership, have had to buy a second boat due to popular demand. www.blueheavenyachts.co.uk for more details.
Iraqi Dream Homes
Baghdad Real Estate
Forget Bulgaria, Dubai, Croatia, or wherever else you think is the new property hotspot. Downtown Baghdad is experiencing its own property bubble.
Perhaps surprisingly, Baghdad property is going through a bit of a purple patch with prices rising by over 500% in some cases - although there are bargains to be had, such as this large family house for 200,000 USD.
Whether you consider it to be a true bargain is up to you, since the area is still subject to massive civil unrest and plenty of stray gunfire, according to the refreshingly direct agent Mustapha Abbas.
Abbas also warns the adventurous buyer about a few other local features. For example the mains electricity works around half of the time, with most wealthy families investing in a backup generator.
The tap water is fairly potent and most toliets, described as "Eastern" in the blurb, are essentailly a hole in the ground.
So if you fancy a bargain, pack your bulletproof vest and have a look at: http://www.aliraqmarket.com/ - Iraq's answer to eBay.
And the rubbish...
Cool Stuff
Have a look at this conceptual beauty - a visual thesaurus. For crossword lovers and wordsmiths. Here it is.
Not bad, you say, but how about this clock. Now that is cool.
Bad Hair Day
This is a great story we found on the net!
"My sister-in law is from Oklahoma and has a slight accent. She has cats and when she lived in the south she would take them to the groomers and have what is called a Line Cut. To her a line cut is when all of the fur hanging down below the cat's tummy is taken off (because it gets matted or snarled). When she moved to Chicago with my brother, one of the cats fur got all tangled up during the move so she took it in for a line cut. She was quite surprised when she heard the price as it was twice as much as it was down south. She confirmed with the groomer that he understood what a line cut was and he said "yes, I know what a LION cut is." It seems her accent came out sounding like LION not LINE and this is how her cat was returned to her. She cried for a week...but not as much as the cat."
Spaced out
Google Earth? That's so last month...
Last month we showed you Google Earth, Google's clever around the world in a day application. Well, they have also made a version that maps the moon (and even shows the Apollo landing sites). So for all you trekkies - knock yourselves out:
Costa del Sol summer tourism figures have shown an end to the decline in visitor numbers that has been seen every summer since 2002, with tourism authorities confident that the boost will be sustained through to the end of September.
Rather than Spanish property losing value, the first quarter of 2005 saw price rises of 4.2 percent, and appreciation of approximately 25 to 30 percent in certain areas (source: Spanish Red Guide 2006). This is supported by recent figures published by the largest independent Spanish property portal, Kyero, which indicate that Spain continues to be a growing market.
Mortgages
available for non-residents (rates at 2.95%)
Diana Morales announce RELO membership - the Marbella based agent is now part of a 650 strong worldwide affiliation, offering specialist relocation services.
Blue Heaven go shopping for a new boat - the Puerto Banus based company who specialise in making yachting affordable by offering syndicated ownership, have had to buy a second boat due to popular demand. 
Perhaps surprisingly, Baghdad property is going through a bit of a purple patch with prices rising by over 500% in some cases - although there are bargains to be had, such as this large family house for 200,000 USD.
Cool Stuff 
This is a great story we found on the net!
So for all you trekkies - knock yourselves out:
