Talking about the price of flats at a bar counter

Because in bars people talk about everything... but selling a flat is not about carajillos, it's about realism and strategy.

I remember back in 2005 in Alicante, when it was common in any conversation in a bar, to hear how incredible it was to hear about that buying and selling operation or "pass" in which a guy had bought a flat for x and after a few days had sold it for much more than x. In those days, if you had sold something related to bricks and mortar, it was better if you had done it with a real bang, because if not, you had no choice but to keep the news to yourself and swallow the story unless you wanted to run the risk of turning out to be a "pringao".

Those were the days of "one round for all", the housing stock kept growing and sell floors was child's play. Nobody knew what the risk premium was, nor did we need to! But those times were behind us and we discovered that the Central Bank was not the closest branch to the town hall, that the men in black who were going to rescue us would not save us from alien invasions, and that the government did not have a banknote machine as we had imagined from the way it acted.

The economic crisis has arrived and we went to the bars to drown our sorrows. The triumphal speech gave way to "I know someone who has bought a real bargain...", followed by the misfortunes of the one who saw his house depreciate to unimaginable limits, the one who saw his house foreclosed on, the one who saw the neighbour who lost his jobhow to banks and savings banks did not want to hear the word mortgage loan... And to look at each other in amazement wondering how we had got into that hole. Buying a flat had to be accompanied by the feeling of triumph of having bought not just well, but super well. And if you'd got a bargain from a bank repossession, all the better.

And where are we now? Times of change now seem to be on the horizonof positive upward trends, of economic recovery and therefore of the real estate sector. Cheerfulness has returned to the bars in Alicante because those who denied credit are once again getting easy again forced by stimulus policiesBecause the word "adjustment" or "cutback" is a bit of a mouthful in a pre-electoral campaign, because the economy is cyclical and it is time for recovery... Or perhaps it is a mixture of all of these.

Now it seems that there are times of change, of positive upward trends, of recovery of the economy and therefore of the real estate sector.

It is clear that statistically the property market is waking up, as sales have risen gently but steadily over the last year and there is light at the end of the tunnel.

As a result of this new scenario, an ashen murmur is beginning to be heard in the bars that threatens this early joy, although it could be a great opportunity for those who know how to interpret it correctly: "Prices have not only stopped falling but are actually rising". What? What a bad memory we have, gentlemen. From the directors of "Either I lower the price as far as the market will tell me or I won't be able to sell" to the directors of "I'm going to raise the price of my house (which was probably overpriced and that's why it wasn't selling) because they say prices are rising". And from carajillo to carajillo, I'm just going to throw myself in because it's my turn.

As an antidote to this dizziness, the next time you go to the bar and hear these pseudo-real estate speeches, be clear:

1. Prices have started to stabilise in some Spanish cities.The prices have started to rise very slightly (by 3-5%) in premium areas of cities such as Barcelona, Madrid and Bilbao. But beware, this does not mean that a flat out of market price will overnight be at its right price or even below. Expensive flats will remain unsold unless they are repriced.What they will do is leverage the sale of those that are priced in line with demand.

2. A certain amount of joy has returned and people are buying again. Some because they don't want to miss out on "the last bargain", others because "to have money sitting dead in a bank...", and others because of the opening up of credit. But again, beware of thinking that demand has gone crazy and that people are going to flock to estate agents in search of flats at any price. People are encouraged to start looking, which is no small thing! And it will be, as always, it is the market that will match supply and demand.

3. It is in this balance that it is necessary to establish ourselves in order to be able to offer prices that are congruent at the time and that meet the expectations of future buyers and sellers. To do this, it is time to sharpen pencil and calculator, to know the sector better than ever, to interpret the wishes of the buyer and the needs of the seller.

4. If you raise the price of your property disproportionately in the coming months and years, it will not sell.

Listen to your estate agent, because if he knows what he's doing (What should the perfect estate agent look like?), will help you to sell your flat soon and at the best possible price and will prevent you from committing these crimes in the present moment. five mistakes that keep your flat from selling. If you want a free valuation of your home, without obligation, reasoned and without generating false expectations, request it for free. here.

In a nutshell: Alicante, especially in the centre and on the beaches, is stabilising the price of flats.However, it is still too early to speak of a rise in prices. This stabilisation, together with the recovery of a certain optimism and confidence in the population, will mean that the fall in prices of recent years will come to an end, and in the medium term, supply and demand will come into line accordingly. And please, let us not make the same mistakes and interpret this joy as a return to a "free-for-all". Let's be prudent, let's inform ourselves, let's get advice from a good professional and... a carajillo and home.

There are always people in a bar and you always hear people talking about football, shitting on politicians or the rise and fall of house prices. Surely this topic takes the biscuit. It is clear that some joy has returned to the economy and the real estate sector, but this article from Monapart Alicante is a call for caution.