• Key filming locations in Costa Almeria revealed
• Holiday rental prices set to benefit from the Game of Thrones effect (Kyero.com)
• Season 5 set UK ratings record for Sky Atlantic

Spain is once more in the grip of Game of Thrones fever, with thousands of potential extras queuing up in Girona this month for the chance to be part of George RR Martin’s epic fantasy world as filming for season six takes place in Spain. The filming will move from Girona to Navarra and then on to the seaside location of Peñiscola during September.

In October, the film crews will head over to the stunning Costa Almeria region, where work is already underway preparing scenery in areas such as El Chorrilo de Sierra Alhamilla (Pechina), where the construction of a settlement featuring huts around a church is rumoured to be underway.

The filming of season five, which set ratings records when shown on Sky Atlantic earlier this year, attracting a 6.7% share of the UK audience, has had a marked impact on tourism in areas where it was filmed. These include the Spanish city of Seville and nearby Osuna. Companies have sprung up offering tours of filming locations and interest in the area has attracted fans from far beyond the local region.

With filming for season six well underway, the impact on Costa Almeria filming locations is hotly anticipated. Martin Dell, Director of Spanish property portal Kyero.com, which lists more than 200,000 homes from 3,000 estate agents, including a range of holiday rentals in Costa Almeria, comments,

“We’ve seen a huge boost in tourism as a result of the filming of Game of Thrones in other areas of Spain, as well as in its headquarters in Northern Ireland. Fans love to be able to visit the areas that they’ve seen form part of the series and chosen locations definitely benefit. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see rental prices rising along the Costa Almeria once season six airs and it is subject to the Game of Thrones effect.”

According to Almeria City Council, the Carboneras municipal stadium will host the film crew and the 400 extras who will be used in filming on October 18 and 19 in the Paraje de Mesa Roldan in the Natural Park of Cabo de Gata-Nijar. Other local sites tipped to be included in the popular series are the Rambla del Cautivo the Almeria Citadel and the Chorrillo de Pechina, where extras will include more than 100 Almeria-born horses, as well as the hundreds of locals keen to be a part of the epic series.

According to data from Kyero.com, average holiday rental prices in the Costa Almeria are currently €643 per week, with apartments accounting for two thirds of all rentals. The most popular locations are Mojacar, Vera and Arboleas. The area is most popular with holidaymakers from the UK, France and Germany, though it also has double the usual proportion of visitors from Belgium and Sweden. It will be interesting to see just how the huge impact of Game of Thrones will affect these statistics over the coming year, as the excitement regarding the latest season builds.

For further details on properties to rent and buy across Spain, visit www.kyero.com.

• 14% of tourists opt for private houses and villas (Esade)
• Invest in the best areas from €74k (Kyero)
• 1/3 of tourists won’t holiday in an area without rental properties (Esade)

The rise in popularity of private rental properties is leading many investors to take a long, hard look at Spanish property. According to a study by Esade, Fevitur and Salvetti & Llombart, 14% of tourists who visited Spain last year stayed in private houses and villas. This equated to some 3.7 million individuals, who between them spent €900 million on their accommodation. The survey further revealed that a third of tourists would not consider holidaying in an area that did not have holiday homes available.

Martin Dell, Director of Spanish property portal Kyero.com, which lists more than 200,000 homes from 3,000 estate agents, observes,

“Hotels still take the top spot when it comes to tourist accommodation, but there’s no question that holidaymakers are becoming increasingly enamoured with rental properties. Renting a villa or an apartment provides you with a real home from home, with so many more features than a hotel. Having full kitchen facilities while on holiday is a must for many families and the added privacy that a villa provides over a hotel is a real attraction.”

Investors looking at buying a rental property in Spain are advised to do their homework. Recent changes to rental licences have led to a rather patchy regional approach to the regulations. Richard Speigal of España Breaks explains,

“There were big problems with holiday rentals being unlicensed, untracked and (ultimately) allowing a situation where foreign owners paid no tax on their income. Central government pushed responsibility for licensing to the regions and we’ve ended up with a very mixed picture. Some regions are doing a great job, making it easy for owners to register their property and creating good schemes to get some uniformity into accommodation standards. Some less so.”

When implemented well, licensing can be excellent news for holiday rentals market, as shown by the French gîte system. The Spanish system has some way to go, but buyers who do their research and opt for areas with well-run licensing systems can look forward to the prospect of healthy returns.

According to Kyero.com, median long-term rental prices have reached €650 per month, while weekly rental rates stand at €550 per week across Spain nationally. At the ultra luxury end of the market, prices have been seen rising to €60,000 per month and €40,000

per week, though the standard of property that can command such income is rather beyond the reach of the average investor!

To show investors the kind of properties that tourists are demanding, Kyero.com has prepared a quick round of available properties up and down the country, based on the best locations to go for popular holiday activities, where tourists can rent their way around Spain to enjoy the best of everything that the country has to offer.

Crisscross Spain for the best of the best

For the best tapas, head to Madrid. A stylish, two bedroom/two bathroom apartment with shared pool in the city can be picked up for €399,865.

For both the best architecture and the best shopping, it has to be Barcelona. A five bedroom/two bathroom apartment in the Gothic Quarter is available for €510,000.

Seville is home to some of the very best Flamenco in Spain. A six bedroom/six bathroom villa with private pool will set you back a cool €2,500,000.

The best sherry is to be found in Jerez de la Frontera, where tours of sherry bodegas abound. A front line townhouse with terrace and roof terrace costs just €74,000.

Asturias is home to some of Spain’s best beaches and beyond the sights of the hordes of tourists who head for the Costas without considering the alternatives. A cliff top villa overlooking the sea is available for €260,000.

Valencia is the (very much debated!) best location to go for truly authentic paella. A designer penthouse with roof terrace can be purchased for €600,000.

For further details on properties to rent and buy across Spain, visit www.kyero.com.

• Average Barcelona property price reaches record-breaking €617k (Kyero.com)
• Barcelona welcomed 7.4 million international visitors in H1 2015 (Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism)
• Spain to become leader of Eurozone by 2023 (Harvard)

Depending on who’s counting, Barcelona regularly ranks somewhere between the 10^th and 25^th most visited city in the world. Visitor numbers have increased vastly since the Catalonian capital hosted the Summer Olympics back in 1992, to the point where new Mayor Ada Colau is having to look at ways to limit tourist numbers in order to preserve the city’s rich character.

Meanwhile, the inclusion of the Gaudi’s incredible Sagrada Familia in TripAdvisor’s 2015 Travellers’ Choice awards for the world’s top landmarks (it was the only European landmark to make the top five), demonstrates the love that visitors have for this ancient and historic city. Already in 2015 Barcelona has attracted some 7.4 million international visitors, according to the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism.

But Barcelona is not just a tourist mecca – it’s a bustling working city that 1.6 million inhabitants are proud to call their home. It is a rising economic star within the European community and seen as increasingly important thanks to Spain’s impressive financial recovery, which has led to Harvard University predicting that Spain will be the leader of the Eurozone in 2023, enjoying an average annual GDP growth rate of 3.7%.

Martin Dell, Director of Spanish property portal Kyero.com, which lists more than 200,000 homes from 3,000 estate agents, observes,

“Barcelona consistently tops the charts when it comes to real estate prices in Spain. It’s a fascinating and magnificent city, not just from an architectural standpoint, but also culturally. It blends ancient Spanish traditions and values with a hip, modern culture. The gourmet La Boqueria Market just off Las Ramblas is the perfect example – hams cured to the same recipe for centuries hang opposite stalls of bright fruit shakes made using the latest superfoods. The city is a real melting pot but with a truly authentic heart.”

According to the latest Kyero Spanish House Price Index, Q2 2015, the price of the average home in Barcelona province has risen to €572,500, a staggering 243% higher than the national average. In Barcelona city, the figure rises to a record-breaking €617,000.

The Kyero.com data reveals some interesting insights into what it is that buyers are looking for from their Barcelona property. The largest share of enquiries (27%) are for properties costing between €150,000 and €250,000. Searches for two bedroom homes just beat those for three bedrooms, at 31% and 29% respectively. When it comes to property type, though, apartments win hands-down, with 89% of enquiries focusing on this type of property.

The lower half of the most popular price bracket provides property buyers with an ample choice of two and three bedroom apartments in the city, while the upper end of the price bracket is sufficient for anything up to five bedrooms.

Buyers looking to spend closer to the average property price can enjoy this stylish, four bedroom/two bathroom apartment, which benefits from an outdoor terrace, underground parking and a central location.

For further details on properties to rent and buy in Barcelona and across Spain, visit www.kyero.com.

• Largest English-language Spanish property portal records busiest ever quarter (Kyero.com)
• House prices picking up pace in coastal areas (Tinsa)
• €50-€100k price band proves most popular (Kyero.com)

Enquiries into Spanish properties have reached record-breaking levels, Spanish property portal Kyero.com can reveal. The portal for international investors, which lists more than 200,000 homes from 3,000 estate agents, has had its busiest ever quarter, with a newly released report unveiling key facts about the current state of the Spanish property market.

Issue 24 of the quarterly Kyero.com Enquiry Report, covering April to June 2015, enables those buying and selling property in Spain to gauge the likely level of market interest in their area and to make an informed choice when it comes to resale potential.

The Q2 2015 report has revealed that properties costing between €50,000 and €100,000 are the most popular at present, accounting for 28% of all enquiries. Bargain Spanish properties have been snapped up by those from overseas as well as by domestic buyers over the past couple of years, following the price tumble triggered by the global financial crisis. However, it seems that this end of the market is tightening up, particularly in coastal areas. Valuations company Tinsa observes,

“A total of 35 resorts have seen price rises between Q1 2014 and Q1 2015.”

The previous year saw just four of those areas register price increases. The upward movement indicates that those seeking properties in the €50,000 to €100,000 range might soon have to up their budget in order to get what they are looking for.

Spain’s coastal areas are some of its most popular with second home buyers looking for a holiday home with easy access to one or more of the country’s fantastic beaches, many of which hold the Blue Flag accolade. Alicante, home of the Costa Blanca, is the most popular province, according to the Kyero.com Q2 2015 Enquiry Report, with 31% of all enquiries focusing on that region. Malaga was the second most popular area, accounting for 15% of total enquiries.

“Spain’s beaches offer some fantastic, family-friendly holidays and many of those buying here want to own a property within a short walk or drive of at least one beach,” comments Kyero.com Founder Martin Dell.

“Apartments are by far the most popular choice, accounting for 39% of all enquiries during the last quarter – a full 10% ahead of villa enquiries. Many families like the idea of owning an apartment that comes with a shared swimming pool that the condominium company maintains. It’s less hassle and expense than owning a villa with its own pool.”

The Kyero.com report also reveals that it is three bedroom properties that command the most interest, with 32% of all enquirers looking for properties of that size. Two bedroom properties came a close second, with 30% of total enquiries.

So it seems the ideal Spanish property is a three bedroom apartment in Alicante, costing between €50,000 and €100,000. Although Tinsa has hinted at the drying up of this end of the market, for now at least buyers can still find their perfect property – Kyero.com has more than 1,500 properties available that meet these criteria!

For further details on properties to rent and buy across Spain, visit www.kyero.com.

• 14% of buyers want better property details, including location map (Kyero)
• 95% of property sales in Spain include both the listing and buyer’s agents (Resales Online)
• Could buyer verification be the answer to Spain’s listing problems? (Kyero)

The recent customer satisfaction survey from Kyero.com, the portal which lists Spanish property sales, holiday and long-term rentals, raised some interesting points.

Customers showed a great deal of love for the site, with 32% feeling positive about the vast number of properties advertised from a wide range of estate agents, 28% raving about the news, articles and weekly newsletter, 26% loving how easy the site is to use and a further 26% enjoying the market analysis that Kyero.com provides.

However, 14% of those surveyed advised that they wanted to see better property details, photographs and full location information. The figure highlights a key problem with the way that Spanish properties are marketed, as Martin Dell, Director of Kyero, explains,

“When you’re looking to buy a property, the first thing you want to know is where it is. You want to see it on a map and check it out on Google Street View to see what the area is like and what amenities are nearby. It’s a simple concept, but one that the Spanish system has actually turned into a complex issue for estate agents here.

“Exclusive or sole agency contracts are not common in Spain and seldom enforced even if they are in place. This means that as soon as the agent who has gone to the time and expense of photographing and advertising the property pinpoints it on a map, other agents can use that information to list the property, either with or without the owner’s permission.”

It’s easy enough to see why – the agent who copies the listing has to expend very little energy in order to advertise the property and, should they find a buyer, they have the option to either negotiate a commission split with the original listing agent or contact the owner directly. The system is so competitive that research from Resales Online has shown that 95% of property sales involve both a listing agent and a buyer’s agent.

Yet what buyers want is to know where the home they are looking at is actually located, meaning that the vast majority of Spanish property listings are presented in a sub-optimal format. It can be an off-putting and frustrating process for buyers, as the Kyero.com survey has revealed.

So what’s the solution?

“There is no easy answer,” continues Martin Dell, “But one option would be to only allow agents to advertise their own direct properties, like Idealista already does. The problem with this comes down to enforcement though. Another option would be to verify the buyer prior to revealing the location, in the same way that many websites require an email address to verify their account setup process. Of course, a determined agency competitor could always pose as a buyer and get around the verification process, but it would at least be a step in the right direction.”

While Spain works through potential solutions to this problem, buyers will continue to view houses whose locations they can’t quite determine. Thankfully, many properties on Kyero.com include listings with sufficient description to identify at least their general location, if not their specific one, such as this beautiful house in the Gothic quarter of Pals (Girona) or this stunning villa with sea views in the exclusive Altea Hills area in Alicante.

For further details on properties to rent and buy across Spain, visit www.kyero.com.