Frequent visitors to this board will know that I am a fan of Spain, I think that it is the best holiday home destination in Europe for anyone seeking a pleasant winter clmate. In fact, correct that, I know that it is the best place to be in January or December when Ireland is cold and dark.
Having said that, Spain has good and bad value. In my view, buyers need to be sure that they are not paying too much vis a vis the local market, as with anywhere. They also need to watch out for the emergence of some projects where the projected "rental" has clearly been added to the price. This is becoming more common of late; developers see that they are losing business to places like Bulgaria where buyers seem unable to make a value judgement on property and where the "guaranteed rental" scam appears to win over buyers quite easily.
Anyone looking at Spain should first look at the use that the are going to get from a property there, and also at the cost of maintaining such a property. Some of the new projects are not only priced too high versus the local market, but also have extensive grounds and common areas that cost a lot to maintain and result in high community charges. In most cases, you will get far better value in second hand properties, often with the furniture thrown in. You can avoid high common charges altogether, and still buy a very reasonably priced property, if you move into a nice village a few miles inland; this is by far the better option for people moving to live there, even for part of the year - you get very tired of living in a resort with noisy holidaymakers keeping you awake at weekends.
Not all rental deals are scams, some are real and are based on contracts with tour companies. Almost all will however reflect a higher price than a similar property with no rental agreement attached. Best advice is to avoid most of them.
Over the last twenty years I have owned properties in Spain at very high and very low values, some bought for holiday use, some for investment, and some for both. All have done quite well for me, but only because I always bought at good value. I now own what will probably be my last home in Spain, a nice house on its own grounds in a beautiful setting, surrounded by real neighbours, that I bought for relatively little but which gives me months of pleasure every year. Needless to say it is not on the coast, (I can be there in forty minutes if I really really want to go to the beach) and is not in a development; neither does it have a rental guarantee attached! It cost me less than most people will spend on an average apartment, albeit a couple of years ago, and it has appreciated nicely since I bought it. Having sold many previous homes in Spain, all at varying levels of profit, I know that this one has peformed well also.
I would advise anyone buying in Spain to buy a good property in a nice area as cheaply as possible, and to by and large avoid these big rental projects completely. When you lock the place up to go home for a while. the neighbours will keep an eye on it until you return, and it will not be incurring charges every month. There is really no need to spend more than a couple of hundred thousand euro for a really good house, and often much less, unless you are a rich "flash harry" who needs to impress his mates with the big vila and huge pool. Consider what you need to get from the property, and forget trying to impress your neighbours!
Of course what I say will be largely ignored. I was meeting a friend in the bar of the new hotel in Drogheda on Saturday when I noticed a lot of buyers flocking to buy new property in Spain, off plan and expensive, apparently for no other reason than that it was being promoted by the lovely Liz O'Kane -- one of my favourite personalities, but is that a reason to invest hard-earned cash in what she is paid to promote?