One thing that the political parties who stood at last Sunday's elections were able to agree on was that housing was a key issue. But political parties can do only so much when faced with the dynamics of the market. The talk of restrictions on foreign buying over the months leading up to the elections generated a great deal of attention, which was vastly disproportionate to the realities of there ever being such restrictions. Still, if nothing else, this was a diversion that served to focus minds on a market which elements within the real-estate sector itself believe is out of control.
Natalia Bueno, vice president of the API association of real estate agents, says that it has become "a jungle". Professional estate agencies, she believes, are threatened by a liberalisation which has led to there being "personal shoppers without qualifications". "What has happened in Ibiza is happening here (in Mallorca)." There are so-called agents "who do business in nightclubs".
A story is told of the type of tactic deployed in the pursuit of a sale. A helicopter lands somewhere in Mallorca's Pla region. The owner runs out to see what is happening. An American gets out and says: "I like this house, I'll buy it from you." The lady owner responds by saying she'll give them "30 seconds to get out of here or I'll get the shotgun and shoot the fuel tank".
José Miguel Artieda, president of the API, refers to all the mailing campaigns to try and attract properties for sale. He adds that there are "small groups of investors who get together and raise 300,000 euros, buy a flat and having made a small investment, put it up for sale and achieve an eight per cent return".
Tito Moure of estate agents Inmogestión says that prices being asked are a "nonsense". He highlights the case of a friend of his who sold the family home in Soller for 1.8 million. A foreign company redeveloped it and sold it for seven million. "I am clear that my children will never be able to live in Soller."
Hans Lenz, president of the ABINI association of national and international real estate agencies, explains that demand was so exaggerated after the pandemic that prices rose by 20 per cent. "However, sales in the first quarter of this year, especially to international customers, fell by 30 per cent. The perception that foreigners will buy any home is not true. It is now a time of change and owners will have to adjust their expectations."