Bargain Spanish property bus tours for real estate investors

They are popular in Florida and Arizona, but now the bargain property hunter bus has reached Europe with a club offering tours of distressed real estate on the Costa del Sol.

On offer are luxury properties on new developments with discounts of up to 50%. Organisers Circulo Financiero Internacional said all featured properties amount to real bargains.

The tour is free for members of the CFI investors club and €20 for non members. 'The market is stagnating and developers need to shift new homes that in some cases they have built and paid for or are being repossessed or belong to the banks,' said a spokesman.

He said that discounts of between 20 and 40% are common and some are even down by 50% on previous asking prices.

Spanish Property Slowdown Slows

Spanish house sales fell at the slowest pace in 11 months during March, the National Statistics Institute reported on Tuesday, marking the latest data to suggest Spain's severe recession may be easing.

Home sales fell 24.3 percent to 34,895 in March in what was the 13th straight month of decline, but well below rates of 37.5 percent in February and 38.6 percent in January, INE reported.

The March result was the slowest rate of decline since April 2008 and followed Bank of Spain data showing banks lent 7 billion euros in March for mortgages, the most since July 2008.

Economists expected the sales trend to continue as real estate firms and banks repossess homes due to soaring debt defaults and put them on the market at ever lower prices.

25% of Russian buyers look to Spain for purchasing property

One out of four russians interested in purchasing property abroad during the first quarter 2009 focused their search on Spain, according to the Russian property consulting firm Miel DMP, which specializes in property abroad.

The company cites the collapse in the real estate market in Spain as the main cause for the surge in interest for the Spanish property market, which has resulted in some properties being cheaper than in Bugaria and Montenergo.

Spain has become the most popular location for Russians eyeing property abroad, after France (20 per cent), and Bulgaria (15 per cent).

Portugal Real Estate: Looking Good

One look at the hoards of tourists coming through Portugal's international airports and it is hard to believe that there was actually a time when the country was an off the beaten path destination. That time is now clearly over. Buying property in Portugal is no longer an exotic pursuit - especially for Brits and Europeans. Places like Algarve, the country's southernmost region, have seen an explosion of resorts.

Still property in Portugal remains within reach of many folks who have the extra cash to purchase vacation homes. "For