Is NOW the Right Time to Buy a Home in Marbella?

I guess at this point in the economic cycle the answer to that question depends on who's asking it and who's answering!

From many years of dealing with property buyers in Southern Spain, I understand that the pre-requisite is the need for a buyer to be genuinely interested in the prospect of buying. As a result, the answer to this question reinforces - or not - their planning.

Let's confront the general perception of Spain through in the eyes of an interested buyer.

The media has had a high old time kicking the "Spanish Costas" with their indignant headlines and generally wallowing in the misery of those Brits embroiled in planning scams etc. Of course, I am not going to pretend that there haven't been some awful cases featuring the most appalling rip offs. But for me, nearly three years after the bloodletting started the mid-term prospects for the market are starting to brighten. A host of the charlatan element has been eradicated and the shady operators have been forced to move onto easy picking pastures new. Sharp practices delivered by in those in sharp suits is now old hat, as clichd as the "bag of cash" purchaser.

The municipalities - the local Town Hall's - in places like Marbella have confronted their past transgressions. Under the intense spotlight of the world's media, they have been dissected by the microscopic investigations of sophisticated professionals, police and regulatory bodies. The legacy of greater transparency and accountability has been the result. After having their collective backsides kicked by regional, national and supranational governments - some even being carted off to prison for their sins - I am now - and frankly only recently - getting the distinct impression that the winds of change are blowing and drying the ink on the Town's strategy to revive Marbella and its image.

The certainty delivered to the real estate market by the extensive, and costly clean up, now means - and I believe this to be no exaggeration - that Marbella may now be regarded as one of the securest places in Spain to buy a property. I simply couldn't have said that three years ago.

The planning issues of the majority of previously questionable developments have been resolved - there is now clarity. Sadly for the owners of properties in those developments where it has proved impossible to regularise - and we all know which they are - the advice is simple - avoid them.

The effects of the turmoil in world banking post the sub-prime market collapse; have been felt in Spain as elsewhere. Along with most of the known world, the tendency to over value was widespread here and reached its peak in spring 2007.

The attendant borrowing that mirrored the swollen valuations and the subsequent decline in the market has left many Spanish lenders out in the cold. Let's not forget that they fought tooth and nail for market share, allegedly providing mortgage funds to anyone "with a pulse and a passport". I don't have huge sympathies but their marketing strategies worked - probably too well. The major Spanish Banks and Cajas (Savings Banks) have been left them with the Mother and Father of all hangovers.