{"id":1943,"date":"2011-08-19T09:23:11","date_gmt":"2011-08-19T07:23:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/taylorwimpeyspain.com\/?p=1943"},"modified":"2012-06-05T10:08:26","modified_gmt":"2012-06-05T10:08:26","slug":"taylor-wimpey-chief-defends-british-buyer-market","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/taylorwimpeyspain.com\/blog\/taylor-wimpey-chief-defends-british-buyer-market\/","title":{"rendered":"Taylor Wimpey chief defends British buyer market"},"content":{"rendered":"

British buyers remain conspicuous by their absence\u201d. This was the damning conclusion of\u00a0an article\u00a0on international real estate on Property Wire this week.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>\"Taylor<\/a><\/p>\n

So is the British lifestyle buyer market really dead?\u00a0 Has the economic gloom and the scare stories in the UK media permanently put an end to the British desire to own a property in the sun?<\/p>\n

Not according to Taylor Wimpey Espana boss Javier Ballester. In an interview with Ashley Rigg of Global Edge<\/a> yesterday this is what he had to say.<\/p>\n

“The market is smaller but the British are still buying.\u00a0 A house in the sun is still an aspiration, it\u2019s just that fewer people can afford it and the ones that can are extremely discerning” he says.<\/p>\n

Here is an extract from our conversation.\u00a0 In is an interesting read for anyone selling into the UK buyer market.<\/p>\n

AR:<\/strong>\u00a0How are sales volumes compared to previous years?<\/p>\n

JB:<\/strong>\u00a0We are selling about 75% less than in 2008.\u00a0 2009 was the worst year in our history but things picked up in 2010 and this year, we are slightly ahead of where were in 2010 so we are positive.<\/p>\n

AR:<\/strong>\u00a0Which areas are selling well and which ones are not?<\/p>\n

JB:<\/strong>\u00a0Mallorca is the strongest market, followed by the Costal Del Sol.\u00a0 The Costa Blanca is difficult due to oversupply.\u00a0 Luckily our stock on the Costa Del Sol is in Marbella which has not suffered as much as other areas from over construction.<\/p>\n

AR<\/strong>: Which nationalities are buying?<\/p>\n

JB:<\/strong>\u00a0 The UK is still by far our biggest market.\u00a0 Around 50% of our buyers are British followed the Germans and other Northern Europeans.<\/p>\n

AR:<\/strong>\u00a0 The brand must help you in the British market?<\/p>\n

JB:<\/strong>\u00a0Yes it certainly does.\u00a0 It helps with trust which is especially important with so many horror stories in the media.<\/p>\n

AR:<\/strong>\u00a0 Who is buying?\u00a0 Is it the retirement market which is strongest?<\/p>\n

JB:<\/strong>\u00a0 The majority of our buyers are over 50 and are purchasing for lifestyle reasons.\u00a0 Not everyone is retiring but most are slowing the pace of their lives down.<\/p>\n

AR:<\/strong>\u00a0 Are you pricing aggressively?\u00a0 How have your prices changed over the years?<\/p>\n

JB:<\/strong>\u00a0 We were quick to react in 2007 and watched the experience of the US so we cut prices quickly.\u00a0 Our prices are around 30% to 40% below their peak with greater reductions on the mainland than in Mallorca.<\/p>\n

AR<\/strong>:\u00a0 What the key price points in your market?\u00a0 What sells and what does not?<\/p>\n

JB:<\/strong>\u00a0 Anything over \u20ac300,000 is difficult, by that I mean it takes longer to sell.\u00a0 Property prices in the \u20ac200,000 to \u20ac250,000 sell much more quickly.<\/p>\n

AR<\/strong>:\u00a0 What is your view on the future of property prices in Spain?\u00a0 With such high unemployment and the banks yet to off load so many properties, the outlook can\u2019t be good?<\/p>\n

JB:<\/strong>\u00a0 I agree the local market is difficult and prices will probably continue to fall for some time.\u00a0 People cannot get access to finance and real wages are falling.<\/p>\n

The second home market is different.\u00a0 Our buyers are putting down deposits of 40%.\u00a0\u00a0 The market we aim at is very cash rich and demand is steady for property in good locations.\u00a0 Prices may fall a little but the fundamentals are strong.<\/p>\n

AR<\/strong>:\u00a0 Would you not agree that many of the so called holiday homes built in Spain are not fit for purpose and should be knocked down?<\/p>\n

JB:<\/strong>\u00a0 It depends on where you are.\u00a0 There are certainly many properties built inland that will never sell.\u00a0 Nobody wants property in ugly places no matter how cheap it is.<\/p>\n

AR:<\/strong>\u00a0Finally what would your advice be to agents and developers looking to sell into the British buyer market?<\/p>\n

JB:<\/strong>\u00a0 There is a market.\u00a0 A house in the sun is still an aspiration for the British, it\u2019s just that fewer people can afford it and the ones that can are very discerning.<\/p>\n

What I would say is that it is actually very difficult to get hold of good stock.\u00a0 Most of the good property held by the banks has gone already and what remains is of low quality.\u00a0 Also the banks do not care about after sales service which is extremely important for lifestyle buyers.<\/p>\n

Finally, it takes time, you cannot do everything in one day.\u00a0 Doing things properly requires time and patience.<\/p>\n

\"global<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a9 2011 Global Edge Marketing Ltd<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

British buyers remain conspicuous by their absence\u201d. This was the damning conclusion of\u00a0an article\u00a0on international real estate on Property Wire this week. So is the British lifestyle buyer market really dead?\u00a0 Has the economic gloom and the scare stories in the UK media permanently put an end to the British desire to own a property […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7,8,12,4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1943","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-costa-blanca","category-costa-del-sol","category-mallorca","category-spain","category-taylor-wimpey-de-espana"],"yoast_head":"\nTaylor Wimpey chief defends British buyer market 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