We have recently added several listings to our selection of luxury villas for sale in Marbella with some excellent high end properties included. Featuring houses in areas such as Gaudalmina Baja, Los Monteros and Marbella Club Golf Resort. As a company we are actively looking for the very best villas for sale within the Marbella area, so if you have a prestige home and want to sell it, please contact us directly on 0034 952883149, or send us an email to info@firstpropertychoice.com

Increases in the Euribor ( over 58% from a year ago) are making a precarious housing market seem even more unsteady. Jean Claude Trichet also keeps intimating that interest rates may well increase, the wrong decision in my opinion.

The Spanish Government is trying to improve the sentiment in the money markets by revealing that the housing glut will be reduced to 200,000 in 2013, for this to be accurate 300,000 homes need to be sold per yer.

Good luck.

We now have some long term rental properties within the La Zagaleta estate. Price ranges varying from €8000 through to €40000 per month, all properties benefit from the safety and beautiful surroundings that only this exclusive part of Benahavis can offer.

For more information on what properties we have available please email info@firstpropertychoice.com , then we can give you full details of what we have that may suit your requirements.

Expatriates who are looking to buy a property now can find some real bargains, as many banks are ordering foreclosures on properties. It's no secret that due to the sun and sand and the added bonus of fantastic night-life, Spain is often first choice for holidays. However, Spain can now add another proverbial feather to its already overbrimming cap.

According to a study recently conducted by on-line travel agent sunshine.co.uk, British people staying in Spain give the country an average safety rating of 9.8 out of 10. This research has shown that Spain is widely perceived a safe country to live, meaning expatriates would do well to take a closer look at properties here before looking at options around the rest of the world. This makes the Costa Del Sol a safe visit.

Over 2,000 Britons from the over-21 age group were surveyed by the company and the results were then collated to find the top five “safest” and “unsafe” destinations, based on the average score of how secure tourists felt whilst staying there. With regards to the rest of the world, France was also viewed as a safe country, receiving another high score of 9.5.

New Zealand was the only country in the top five outside of Europe, suggesting that the majority of Britons feel more at ease taking holidays just that little bit closer to home. Mexico was (perhaps unsurprisingly) voted “least safe” with a truly embarrassing score of 1.8, with South Africa and Bulgaria not far behind with 2 and 2.5 respectively. This poll was part of Sunshine.co.uk's ongoing research into Briton's views on destinations around the globe. The results of the poll are as follows:

Top 5 Safest

1. Spain 9.8

2. France 9.5

3. Cyprus 9.4

4. New Zealand 8.3

5. Denmark 8

Top 5 Unsafe

1. Mexico 1.8

2. South Africa 2

3. Bulgaria 2.5

4. Jamaica 3.2

5. Dubai 3.4

A belated Happy New Year to you all.

We have gotten straight down to business this month with three new listings in La Zagaleta, all offering different styles and two of which will allow some bespoke finishing to their new owners. The estate continues to attract a steady level of enquiries, although few transactions are curently taking place, despite the fact that there are some really good deals at the moment, perhaps that will change in 2011?

Our aim this year is to continue getting the best listings we can in the estate, giving those of you who are interested in buying the widest choice of houses to view within your specific criteria.

Over the next couple of days we will be listing one of the most impressive homes available within the La Zagaleta estate. Having viewed the home yesterday, the attention to detail that this house has is nothing short of jaw-dropping. Totally private and of a construction quality that I have not yet seen before anywhere, this villa really will offer prospective luxury home seekers everyhing.

I have included a couple of sneak preview images to give you a taste of this amazing home, the mosaic work shown in the 3 images above will give you an idea of the sheer level of quality I am talking about.

I should have this property, including many pictures and an in-depth description of its huge specification, on our site over the next day or so.

The La Zagaleta estate, as you know, is one of the most exclusive developments within Spain, so finding owners who are really motivated to sell their properties at reduced prices is difficult. During the current market conditions many buyers are looking for deals, so I thought I would show you, over the next couple of posts,  several properties where it is possible to get a decent reduction on the advertised asking price, as long as a quick completion is possible.

These houses will offer the right buyer an excellent opportunity and good long term investment, given the level of discount that is achievable - take a look below at the first villa and see for yourself.

Above is a shot from the lounge of the first, must sell property. This 6 bedroom house has over 1100m2 of living space with 6 bedrooms on a 5000m2 plot. The glass tiles you can see in this shot actually show the pool below, a unique feature. The views from the large pitched window are of the mountains and golf course, and upon entering the property, this vista is immediately visible, making the entrance into the villa extremely impressive.

The house is advertised at €6,500,000 and is offered with high value, totally unused furniture. The owner is highly motivated to sell and will look at serious, non-derisory offers as long as the buyer is able to move quickly.

Here is a list of some of the features this villa offers -

- 2 Open Fireplaces 
- A Unique Totally Private Positon
- Air Conditioning
- Car Port For 3 Cars
- Cream Marble Floors
- Home Cinema
- Jacuzzi Bath
- Kitchen from Siemens & Gaggenau
- Seperate Staff Quarters
- Under Floor Heating
- Excellent Golf and Mountain Views

A great house for entertaining, there are actually 2 kitchens - the main one would allow you to integrate with your guests and the second, behind the scenes, enables your staff to help you cater invisibly.

For more information on this property, including floor plans and a large portfolio of images please click on this La Zagaleta distressed sale link.

I was recently invited to view some details of properties being held by a certain large Spanish bank, under the proviso that they were under market value deals. I was tempted to ask the representitive if he knew what current market value meant, but I resisted the temptation. So,  there were 10 properties within the Malaga region, all of which apparently represented great value.

Unfortunately, they didn´t.

An 85m2 apartment in Torremolinos for €250,000 does not strike me as a good deal. Nor does a 2 bedroom apartment in El Embrujo Banus for €650,000 or a townhouse in Santa Maria Golf for €711,000. The only positive thing about these properties is the fact that you shouldn´t have much difficulty raising 80% finance, as they belong to a bank, who will gladly mortgage them for you.

Perhaps some of the property stock held by the banks will be priced to sell and be in good locations, its just that at this stage I haven´t seen anything that could be even remotely described as an exciting deal.

There was a piece in the Times on Sunday, detailing an apartment for sale by the well known entrepreneur, James Caan. As I was reading the article, the more I got through, a few less than positive factors emerged about the property. Now I´m not sure if this was a paid editorial in order to get some interest , but if it was, I would be looking for a refund.

From telling the reader it was underwhelming and not what you would expect for a multi-million Euro apartment, to the building being described as a dreary block, the article did little to inspire any sort of positive feeling. The only vaguely promising information came from a well known estate agent in the region who explained that anything over €2 million with a sea view would sell in this area. A bit of a vague statement.

To make matters worse, on the opposite page they outlined much cheaper alternatives in totally different locations.

It is pretty refreshing to see an honest appraisal of a property, even if it does have a high profile owner.