A buyer's market?

The Association of Promoters and Constructors of Houses of Torrevieja and the Vega Baja (Procosta) have expressed their increasing concern about the reduction of sales of houses. Construction is the main economic sector in the region and a major source of employment.

Procosta attributes this crisis to "the bad image" created by the numerous city-planning scandals , the constant rise in the price of houses over the last 10 years and the lack of land on which to build.

According to Procosta houses are sticking on the market for six months or more without being sold in spite of being offered "key in hand" . In the boom years of course houses were sold "off plan" i.e. before they were built. Increasingly that is no longer the case.

The net result is loss of spending power which leads to a lower demand for goods and services in the area. For the first time in 15 years 11,000 people are registered as unemployed in the Vega Baja.

According to Procosta the poor image that the area has gained is caused partly by the news of abuses, the out of proportion rise in the price of houses, and the increase in house burglaries . Procosta feel that the Community has stopped being the destination preferred for investment and retirement by millions of European foreigners, specially the British.

Procosta suggests that the future mayors of the 27 municipalities of the Vega Baja work to to reduce the crisis. They want them to release land, ensure that the price of houses does not rise, fight against the delinquency in housing estates with police reinforcements, and most important not allow city-planning corruption in their municipalities.

The prediction is for a four year lull in sales followed by a return to "boom" years in 2011. In spite of all that there are still 400,000 new houses planned for the Alicante region this year.