[xabiaxica]

It's currently 28º in the shade on my terrace, but 25º in my living room ( & my feet are cold!). It is usually 3 to 5 degrees cooler indoors in summer. I hate aircon, so don't use it. We use fans if/when it gets up to the 30ºs. This is a humid area, so the realfeel is often much higher than the air temperature.

Once summer starts, we keep the persianas mostly closed to keep the direct sun out of the rooms, although the sun doesn't actually reach into my south facing living room in the summer.

In the winter the persianas are open & the sun reaches the room & warms it up.

 

[Monivea]

This can be good or bad? If I am a potential buyer, the lower valuation will not be good for mortgage. But does it mean I might have a better negotiation ground to negotiate on the property prices on the already renovated flats?

While searching on idealista, I often see prices are being reduced 4-8% by the seller. Is the property market in Madrid/Valencia or Spain in general very slow and sluggish this year?

You can get good info here: https://www.idealista.com/news/inmo.../817659-donde-han-crecido-mas-las-compras-de-casas-en-abril-segun-registradores
The purchase of houses grew throughout Spain, highlighting the increases in Castilla-La Mancha (50.5%), Asturias (42.6%), the Canary Islands and Aragon (both with 39.3%).

The increases registered in regions such as Navarra (36.3%) or La Rioja (30.6%) were also important, although only Andalusia (34%), among the large markets, has been above the average. The data from the Valencian Community (23.1%), the Balearic Islands (20.4%) and Catalonia (15%) stand out, while Madrid barely grew by 4.8%, the lowest percentage recorded among all the Autonomous Communities.


I've seen huge increases where I am and the only reductions are because these properties were overpriced or are undesirable. You also have to be careful and I have recently seen more and more properties advertised across Spain that you can buy but can't view. Reason being, they have Okupas in them.

 

[Barriej]

This can be good or bad? If I am a potential buyer, the lower valuation will not be good for mortgage. But does it mean I might have a better negotiation ground to negotiate on the property prices on the already renovated flats?

While searching on idealista, I often see prices are being reduced 4-8% by the seller. Is the property market in Madrid/Valencia or Spain in general very slow and sluggish this year?

The reduction in price is usually because the seller has finally realised that there is no way they will get what they re asking for. Agents here are unlike any Ive ever spoken to. Even if they value the property for €10 if you want it on the market at €50 they will do it. There was a flat for sale next to us that went on the market at €150,000 less than a week later it dropped to €130,000 and the usual price they go for here is around €80,000. I doubt the agent would have given them the valuation.
You can always try negotiation but again its a different ball game here. And decent priced property will go within days. Flats in our block sell on average a week or so after they are advertised, as long as the price is right.

Be very careful here. Some friends of our purchased an apartment some 20 years ago when the brown bag of cash took place during the exchange. This meant the house was undervalued for the seller so any taxes were lowered.
They have just sold and have been lumbered with a huge €40,000 tax bill for the increase in value since the purchase. Also they own another property so they cant even say the sale was to fund the main residence.

We purchased our flat in 2018 (dec) and paid the previous owner some €30,000 less than they paid in 2006. And with the 10% purchase tax here in the Valencia region we would not recoup the sale cost if we sold tomorrow. All of the new builds round here are geared towards US, Canadian and Scandinavian buyers, where a 2 bed concrete box with lashings of windows start at €600,000 And they are selling them. Dont buy here if you dont intend to stay for more than a couple of years.