You are rarely far from a derelict property in Fuerteventura, the boom & bust years have seen to that. We have all wondered exactly how long those big cranes are going to withstand the elements and undoubtedly, one day we will witness a failure of one of these structures, hopefully , resulting in the demise of the crane without any resulting damage to people or property. Obviously, once one topples in the wind, the authorities will rush to eradicate the others - it will be a matter of' Health & Safety' then - as if it isn't already. Most properties in areas in the shadow of these cranes are half-built, and unoccupied. Away from the obvious sites, many houses is various stages of completion, lie unoccupied, un- saleable and unwanted - and have done so for some years. - damaged on the outside by the weather and on the inside by individuals who care to strip them of anything remotely worthwhile. The banks who inevitably own these properties have been restrained in dealing with these problems as for the most part, they represent a significant proportion of the bank's worth- (i.e. If the bank has 10 properties valued at 250K in 2007/8- they are still worth that today)..so the bank's stake is worth that figure. A devaluation of the property price would leave the bank -devalued at best- worthless if overexposed. The Madrid Government has recently put measures in place which should address this situation and as we all know prices will continue to fall, not only for bank owned property, but, also for privately owned homes as a consequence of an enforced sell-off.
The situation in Fuerteventura and in Spain is very similar to the Irish experience. The Government in Ireland have been forced to act sooner than Spain due to their earlier bailout, but, now that Spain has acknowledged her difficulties we may see a similar pattern. If you Google Irish property auctions you will see a wealth of €250 (2008) houses sold for 70-80K Euro. There are some Fuerteventura 'auctions' online, but, their prices do not reflect the current situation and appear less than genuine.
Proper auctions may well be part of Spanish future plans, but, as in the case of Ireland may not fully negate housing over supply. The Irish agency with responsibility for disposing of some excess housing, NAMA, has recently taken a step further:
'State bad loans agency NAMA has decided for the first time to demolish a derelict apartment block it owns. The apartment block -- in the Gleann Riada estate on the outskirts of Longford town -- comprises 12 unsold units that are in disrepair.
It is understood another half a dozen NAMA-controlled ghost estates will be knocked down before the end of the year as the loans agency returns half-built houses and apartments to green areas. NAMA controls about 280 unfinished developments, some 10pc of the total.'
Full Story: http://www.independent.ie/business/personal-finance/property-mortgages/nama-to-demolish-its-first-block-of-flats-on-outskirts-of-longford-3150787.html (http://www.independent.ie/business/personal-finance/property-mortgages/nama-to-demolish-its-first-block-of-flats-on-outskirts-of-longford-3150787.html)
Would there be scope for a similar approach in some areas of Fuerteventura?
There's 4 cranes up chipmonk mountain ready to come down, though I'm not sure what will come first, either a crane will fall or (if there's a good rainfall) all the buildings fall like dominoes.
Those eye sores are a constant reminder of the corruption that took place. Illegal licences, brown envelopes etc.
Imagine paying a fortune to stay at Bahia Real - 5 star luxury - until you look at whats across the road and next to it.
The sensible thing would be for the banks to off-load these places cheap to the public, or gve them to a developer for next to nothing. People will soon make them lovely places to live.
But the banks are desperate to pretend that they hold valuable assets and therefore solvent.
Bankers have absolutely shafted us all. ::)
I think the best option on the top of chipmonk is to demolish the ones that are half built ie the very top of the mountain take the cranes down then they might stand a chance in the future of selling the triplex apartments which are quite nice property's. The ones on the right of the mountain have had most of the kitchen and bath room fittings stolen.
trouble is that most of these derelict sites are being argued over in the courts, so until decisions are made - nothing will happen - the building site opposite the Behia Real has been at a standstill for at least 7 years, and there has not been any decision yet....
These things take forever here, due to the complexities of Spanish bureaurocracy
We drove round the Las Salinas golf course last time we were there and hardly any of them sold. There was a sign of life in 1 or 2 houses and that was it.
Quote from: glenys on July 07, 2012, 14:43:57 PM
We drove round the Las Salinas golf course last time we were there and hardly any of them sold. There was a sign of life in 1 or 2 houses and that was it.
Las Salinas is a really good development, great position, and the houses seem at par with the best available in Fuerteventura, but, the prices really haven't kept pace with reality they appear very overpriced in today's market.
I take Austin7's point regarding Spanish bureaucracy but would hope if Spain is ever going to get herself out of this mess then things can't be allowed to fester forever and they will have no option but to cut through the red tape asap. I see small signs of change in that at least one small development is being finished off by a bank and made ready for sale.
It's not the first time I've heard comment about chipmunk's houses being unstable so perhaps this would be a good time for the authorities to put this one to rest and ensure fitness or demolish what they perceive as being unsafe. With all the comments in mind, it would appear SurfJames has illustrated the major problem with working towards a solution - in that a can of worms would be opened if progress were to be made - however times are tough, and decisions which would have been unheard of some years ago will have to be made -as it's now a case of survival rather than profit. As he says, 'People will soon make them lovely places to live.'
We live facing the unfinished, derelict hotel near the Bahia Real and have to say, it has got to be the biggest eyesore in Corrie. Does anyone know the real story as to why the buliding work actually stopped 7 years ago? We've heard eveything from feuding brothers to them building it too high. Surely the best solution now would be to pull it down?
Feel very sorry for you Carlo having to look at that eyesore all the time. When we first came to Corralejo around 16years ago some friends were staying at San Valentin apartments and coming out of reception and looking straight across the road they had a beach/sea view! Admittedly it was a few hundred metres away and across the avenida grandes playa but it was stunning. Like you have heard so many different rumours about what happened so don't really know the truth but whatever it is the whole eyesore wants demolishing asap as does the Las Agujas complex as they are one of the first things visitors to Corralejo see.
We actually live next to San Valentin. The apartment is lovely and it's the one both me and my girlfriend liked the most, out of all the ones we viewed. The plus point is that from our roof terrace, we can see as far as the eye can see - Grandes Playas and Parque Natural on one side and the harbour / town in the other direction. It would just be so much nicer if we didn't have to look at that on the front. Ahh well, not gonna complain as I can't see it coming down anytime soon. Agree with you on the Las Agujas too.
STOP PRESS!!
I've heard what sounds like workmen on the site all day. Not going to count my chickens just yet though.
I read recently that La Oliva Ayuntamiento are taking steps to reclaim pavements and other public areas that have been fenced in by developers of properties that have been abandoned. A small step in the right direction at least.
It's hard to see why anyone could justify the cost of total demolition unless they had bought the site for development, and that doesn't seem likely in the current climate. :(
The example used in the start of this thread was ref. to Glenn Riada in Longford Ireland as being knocked down as it was a "Ghost Estate" in Fact it was built on a flooding plain and you needed a boat to get to it ( not likely to happen in Fuerteventura ) but is agreed an example of planning laws losing the run of themselfs during boom times.
My rhetorical question would be do we blame banks, developers, local government, or those of us who paid overinflated prices ( caveat emptor ) and drove the madness of the boom.
Responsibility remains with all the above but must also include Individual responsibility. In a free market it is market forces that determine market prices and the citizens are the market. Albeit a very small amount of responsibility must also fall on us.
Taking down half build apartment/condo blocks is dangerous work and require specialists. Due to the high cost it is unlikely to happen.
Taking apart old cranes with rusty bolts is also a difficult task - hard to execute task.
Both are unlikely to happen as banks won't do it and La Oliva hasn't got the money for these works.
Nature will do it over time:
- Cranes will fall over thanks to the sea salt, heat of sun and winds
- Unfinished apartment blocks will also crumble over time thanks to sea salt, moister, sun heat and winds
Eventually the banks will have to drop their prices of their real-estate. Hopefully they will do it after the summer as they have received €30 Billion. They still hope to sell a lot of property over this summer. Just wondering who of the middle-class in Europe (countries) still has the money to buy a second property abroad. The real rich won't buy a 3 bedroom apartment or house for €180,000 in Fuerte as they want a more upmarket location (and pay more).
From DJK99:
If you Google Irish property auctions you will see a wealth of €250 (2008) houses sold for 70-80K Euro.
Eventually even prices in Fuerte will become reasonable.
Rule of thumb:
Value = Long-term monthly rent times 12 times 12
Thus if the apartment rents for €500/month (over 6 months) then it has a value of €500 x 12 x12 = €72,000
This is in line with the €70,000-€80,000 down from €250,000 in Ireland.