Rental Prices are coming down in Mallorca!

Renting an apartment in Mallorca is becoming cheaper as property owners are now more open to negotiation and tenants more often than not will enjoy a price reduction.  It is the first time in many years that landlords have been willing to lower their prices.  They are looking for good tenants who pay regularly.

At one time a three bedroom flat in Palma of around 90 sq.mtrs. and two bathrooms would have rented a year ago for around 750 euros a month.  Nowadays this same type of property can be found for about 650 euros a month.

An Estate Agent, well known in the capital, also said that it is in the interest of the landlords to bring the prices down.  The landlords are looking for tenants preferably employed by the government, health service or education service as they have regular year round incomes.  There are now more flats and villas on the rental market than before which means that the market is much more competitive so the monthly rental amount has become quite an important issue in today’s climate.

Others favoured by the landlords are those on the mature side who can provide references.  Landlords are not so interested in those people who have temporary or seasonal employment as the guarantees of a regular income are limited.

It has been assessed and found that approximately 70% of homes on the rental market at the moment have reduced their prices by at least 10%.  This is of course due to the present economic conditions and the fact that there are many more flats, apartments and houses available and a lot of these have been reformed in the hope of attacting reliable tenants

Late Night Shopping brings new dynamic to Palma!

Due to the success of the late night shopping on Thursdays this summer the capital’s hotel association, bars, restaurants and local businesses want to experience a similar experience in 2010.  It has been agreed that next year in July, August and September establishments will be staying open late every night of the week except Sunday.

Bartomeu Servera, President of traders’ association AFEDECO said yesterday that in the wake of such success this year his members want ‘an even fuller’ programme to maximise business opportunities.  In order for this to happen help would be needed from government authorities, he said, to finance an ‘all summer late night shopping’ campaign.  He added that it could kick off in June and possibly extend to other commercial areas on the island such as Manacor and Inca. ‘AFEDECO members are all for shops staying open Monday to Saturday up until about 10 – 10.30.  ‘Shopkeepers should be able to stay open all the hours they want but a limit of midnight will be impose’ Severa said, ‘We’ll need to come to an agreement with the unions over the move but we don’t anticipate any problems because essentially we are talking about creating more jobs’.

He did add that it was not expected for those working in bars, cafes and restaurants should work 15 hours a day but rather that businesses would be able to adjust their timetables to cater for the client demand at that time of the year. Apparently there had been absolutely no negative feedback about this proposed campaign and many of the traders who experienced this year’s success actually said that they had never sold so much as during the late night opening hours on Thursday of this summer.

This commercial stimulus planned for next summer will hopefully act as a trigger for activity and interaction between tourists and local people.  It is time to show the international clientele that Palma experiences that this is not a city which shuts down at 8pm but is a wonderful city with much to offer and lots going on.  Servera added that if local government cooperate with AFEDECO’s plans nothing but good can come from this campaign.

It is hopeful that those against this year’s late night programe in certain areas of Palma who did not give support will think again, seeing the success, and collaborate in 2010.  The importance of small traders collaborating and working together is significant, only then can they claim their share of clients rather than letting the large department stores and hypermarkets enjoy all the takings. According to Servera his members really need to open on Saturday afternoons, even throughout the winter months, if they want to remain competitive.

Unexpectedly  one of the ally’s for this year’s Thursday late night was the Diocese of Majorca which gave permission for the Cathedral to stay open for the public during these late nights.  They have reported back that they actually enjoyed thousands of extra visitors during this time.

About Mallorca!!

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