That was one of the slogans displayed at a recent protest march in Barcelona. Local residents were protesting the large number of tourists in their home city. The Barcelona government’s recent law restricting the number of hotel and rental beds in the city made hotel owners and rental landlords outraged at the restrictions and residents outraged that the restrictions were not strict enough. The Barcelona residents feel that the new law was necessary but still not enough to curb the in flood of tourists as Barcelona becomes more and more popular. Despite the local resident protest it cannot be denied that the tourists support a wide range of industries in Barcelona and not only rentals and hotels. For this reason the Barcelona government has to act with caution, balancing their regulations between too many and too few restrictions.
The overview of Barcelona’s property market paints a picture of a market in full-on recovery. The only thing stopping the market from completely racing forward is the short supply in some segments. Another element which still needs improving in the Barcelona property market is making housing affordable to local Spaniards. The rental market in Barcelona is doing well and loots like it will continue to prosper.
In the case of rentals the short supply is a factor which is driving prices up. The time a Barcelona rental spends on the market has also decreased since the same period last year. Now rental properties spend 1.5-2 months on the market before they are snapped up. Although prices are rising and properties are flying off the shelves there appear to be fewer transactions. During periods when prices are high and rental properties in short supply tenants are more reluctant to change homes. Tenants are sticking to one home for longer periods than in previous years and rental contracts are being written up for 3.5-4.5 years. Across Barcelona the low supply of rental properties is driving prices up. Other contributing factors include the infiltration of online booking websites which offer legal and illegal rentals for rock bottom prices yet offer home owners the opportunity of making more money renting to tourists rather than for long term to locals.
The overall sales market in Barcelona looks good; sales are up driven by lenient mortgage terms, dropping unemployment figures and an increase in the number of transactions. Sale of second hand homes (homes which have previously been occupied) are also up. There is a high demand for second hand homes and these properties spend an average of 5 months on the market. Properties are selling faster and more frequently. Supply is still an issue and there would be even more transactions if there was more supply of second hand homes. Hot areas at the moment include Sant Cugat, Sat Just Desvern, Sant Gervasi and Gracia in central Barcelona.The biggest improvement in the property market has been seen in new homes. New developments are constantly coming on the market and not staying there for long.
The Barcelona property market is improving steadily and the future looks bright.
Shared Ownership of Common areas in a Building or Housing Estate
If you live in an apartment building with an entrance area, elevator, garden, passages, sports facilities, pool, garage or storage room you share ownership of these areas with the other tenants of the building. The same goes for houses in a gated community, condominium complex, on a development (urbanizacion), golf community or house on a private estate with communal areas and facilities. The only property where there is no shared partial ownership of communal areas is detached houses built on private plots of land. As a tenant of an apartment building or a home owner in a community you are a member of the community of property owners and therefore automatically you share ownership of the communal areas and the expense.
The Good Side of Community Ownership
The obvious advantage is that you have the facilities at your disposal. Community property also gives you security, lower property taxes (as some are shared) and an excuse to get to know the neighbors. Without even trying you will be getting to know local residents when sharing the facilities. Another added advantage in sharing the communal facilities is that you are not personally responsible for maintenance. You won’t have to clean the pool or call a technician to fix the elevator as the homeowner’s committee will handle that.
The Bad Side of Community Ownership
If you have bought a property in Barcelona as an investment and will not be living in it for long periods remember you will still be paying the community fees and taxes, even though you are not there to use the facilities. This can included shared heating, hot water charges and maintenance expenses. For example you might have to share the expense of cleaning the pool each week even if you are not in the country. You can avoid this by making inquiries before you buy about the home owners’ policy on unoccupied properties.
The community might share a pool, tennis courts or gym but remember that in the summer or over the holidays the facilities will be overrun with tenants. So find out how many tenants actually share that small pool with you? Then decide if it is worth buying a property with heavy shared community expenses if you will not be able to or not want to use the facilities.
Know Before you Buy
Before buying a property with shared communal areas find out as much as you can about the people you will be sharing the facilities with. Get information about costs, the management of the shared areas and any outstanding problems. It is important to find out if you will be burdened with communal expenses from the previous tenant. For example if the elevator was fixed the month before you moved in and the tenants are still paying off the repair bill you will have to join them in the payments even though you weren’t even there the previous month. If the infrastructure in a housing community is incomplete then as a new home owner you will have to take on some of the cost of completing the job. Make sure that all the legal aspects of share communal property are covered. Has the community of apartments of houses been registered with the property registry office? Get a copy of the community rules (by law they must have a set of rules) where the areas that are private and communal are clearly defined.
Read more about the consequences of unpaid community property fees, maintenance and cost in part 2 of this post still to come.
