September is here again, and even though the sun is still shining, summer is over. Of course to many of us who live here, it's lovely to be able to find a parking place, get served quicker at the supermarkets and find a deserted beach! While so many of us are considering quitting the UK and Ireland for balmier overseas climes, we look at their impact on the property market this month, and with the aid of an extract from a UK Newspaper, we check out the pro's and cons of moving abroad. As usual, we have a selection of news cuttings from the press, and some of the best properties up for grabs at the moment. We hope you enjoy this month's offering!

As property pundits debate and argue about property prices and the future of interest rates, there is a growing awareness that the level of demand for property in Spain and particularly Tenerife is much larger than anyone had imagined.

The rising Euribor interest rates and massive building programmes over the last decade have fuelled concerns of a cooling down of the market. Economists are traditionally schooled in the idea that if interest rates go up, lending goes down which means fewer mortgages and less demand for property. All things being equal, this rule of thumb works pretty well... but in Spain and specifically Tenerife, all things are certainly not equal, and economists are finding that they may need to look deeper to get a real picture of what's going on.


The key factor that those economists are just waking up to is population size. Spain's population is one of the fastest growing in the world. Since 2000 some 4 million immigrants have swelled the potential property buying public, and this growth shows signs of accelerating. Needless to say, the more people there are the more demand there is for housing. But it is not only the new arrivals who are increasing the demand for accommodation. Spain's baby boom did not get going until the 1970's, and Spanish tend to live at home until their thirties, unlike their British counterparts who flee the nest as soon as possible. This means that a whole new flock of first time buyers are entering into the market with young families and years spent saving up their deposits. Not to be underestimated, there is yet another growing group that have been pushing demand beyond expectations: divorcees. Spain's divorce rates have been rising, and one upshot of this is that as couples split up, they sell one property and replace it with two.

The outlook for Tenerife's property market is perhaps even rosier than the rest of Spain because the island is an immigration hot spot (forgive the pun!) With the weather cited as the main reason for emigrating away from places like the UK, Ireland and Germany, Tenerife certainly wins the 'Best Climate' award! It comes as no surprise to residents here, but Spain's National Statistics Institute has revealed that the Canary Islands are the only part of Spain to have a genuine year-round warm season and that Tenerife was the star performer, with the highest average temperature in 2006 (21.8 degrees centigrade) and the most sunshine too (nearly 3,565 hours in the year, or almost ten hours every day). The better the weather, the more enticing a place is to emigrate, so it is no wonder that Tenerife is so very high in the population growth tables

These social changes are not factored in by all but the most astute pundits. The problem is simply that many experts have over estimated the importance of speculators on property prices, missing the real and sustained growth that a rising population has had. This has meant that they have over-weighted the effect of traditional factors such as interest rates - a fundamental error in a country where over 60% of property is un-mortgaged anyway! Recently the Bank of Spain reported that foreign investment in Spanish property increased by 19.2% in the first 5 months of the year compared to the same period in 2006 - in complete contrast to the scaremongering sensationalism so much loved by the press in the UK, and creating some red faces is in the ranks of the 'experts' there. The application of common sense is starting to dawn on the pundits as they realise there were several million property buyers that they 'forgot', and more and more it looks like there will be a general agreement that the future for property in Tenerife continues to look bright and sunny.

5.5 million Brits already live abroad, and it looks like that figure is set to rocket up even further. Trends in overseas retirement show that over half of fifty year olds and above intend to retire abroad - a staggering percentage. Our own online survey shows that 42% of people interested in property in Tenerife are intending to retire here, while another 38% are looking for a property in which they intend to live and work. The chances are that if you are reading this newsletter, you too are considering the big step of moving abroad.

One British newspaper recently printed the pro's and cons of moving abroad, listing the top five reasons to stay or go. As a Tenerife resident, however, the top five reasons to stay in the UK are hardly relevant, because it seems that the things people expect to miss from the UK are already available over here! We expats benefit from an excellent public health service, Satellite TV and a high number of Brits and Irish here ensure that we hardly miss out on culture, employment laws are equivalent to back home and the many shops specialising in British products ensure that there are no withdrawal symptoms from a lack of Marmite!

Here's the list reproduced, as they printed it:

FIVE reasons to stay:

- The NHS. Free healthcare is a something we take for granted in the UK. However much you moan about it, you would miss it.

- Free bank accounts. At present, bank accounts are gratis, as are authorised transactions. That is not the case in many countries.

- Culture. We often forget how rich the UK is, with fantastic galleries, theatres and museums. The world's biggest ball of elastic bands in Oz doesn't quite match up.

- Marmite, baked beans, good tea, Irn-Bru and potato scones. Even if you can get them imported, it just isn't the same.

Five reasons to go:

- Rainy summers, rainy winters, rainy everything. Workpermit.com received an unprecedented number of inquiries about moving abroad this summer, and a better climate is one of the top reasons people give when emigrating.

- No space. Many emigrants said they left the UK because they wanted more land, bigger homes and a less cramped way of life.

- TV licence fees. Small annoyances like paying for channels you don't watch and funding such channels to produce inane TV series is one of the pet peeves of those who dream of living abroad.

- Congestion charges. It cost £8 a day to drive in central London - more than £1,000 pounds a year just to drive to work has a real sting in the tail for those in the capital. And such charges could easily spread to Scottish cities.

- Waiting lists. The NHS may be a reason to stay, but the waiting lists are not.

So having read this, it looks like Tenerife may become the destination of choice for many who are looking to start a new life... and there are very few reasons not to go! Why not take a couple of minutes to contribute to our online survey yourself at http://www.tenerifepropertyshop.com/tps-poll/ - it's quick and anonymous, so have a go!

Elton John is due to perform in Tenerife on November 17th, one of a number of 'A' list performers that the Cabildo is tempting to the island. Others, we are told, include Sting, Dire Straits which is part of an ambitious effort to make Santa Cruz the “entertainment centre of the world” - according to Mayor Angel Llanos.



If your tastes are more high brow, then Tenerife Auditorium have released their concert schedule for the winter months with a great line up of opera and dance. One of the 'must see' events will be the Imperial Russian Ballet who will be performing to Ravel's Bolero, Sherezade and Carmina Burana at the end of the year. If you're planning to come to the island, it's best to book early by logging onto www.auditoriodetenerife.com.


British schools in Tenerife have released their exam results for GCSE's and A levels - and it looks like a great year. Smaller class sizes contribute greatly to the quality of education and most parents would concur that standards are higher than the schools in the UK.


A small consolation for students struggling in schools in the UK: Budget airline Ryanair offered free flights to Tenerife for students who failed their exams. Thousands of return flights were up for grabs yesterday for those who could prove they had achieved a U grade. A spokesman for the company said, “They may not be going to Oxford or Cambridge but they will be able to go to Tenerife..."

Spain's unemployment figures hit their lowest levels in 29 years, and the economy is one of the strongest in Europe and the percentage of bad debt is the lowest in Europe. The Economist has placed Spain at the top of the list for increase in Gross Domestic product at 3.7%. The only bad news is that this may affect inflation, which is expected to rise... bad news, that is if you haven't yet purchased a property here, but good news if you have!