Javea on the Costa Blanca is suffering from the same malaise that is prevelant in property markets across the globe. Following the credit and housing slump in the USA, confidence in property markets that had been rising for years came down to earth with a thud.

The problems in the Spanish property market have been further exacerbated by the dependancy on sales on the UK market which has seen an unprecedented spell of nearly ten years of rising property values. As confidence hits hard in the UK, so it was reflected in the buying habits of those UK citizens looking to buy a property in the Sun.

Javea, nestled at the northern end of the Costa Blanca on the eastern coast of Spain, has long been a popular holiday and retirement resort for UK ex-patriates as well as many other European nationalities. Its diversity between the narrow streets of the old town and port and the more conventional holiday atmosphere of the arenal beach has always meant that Javea had a while appeal.

In recent years, development of apartment urbanisations between Javea port and the arenal has created a new holiday village with row upon row of new apartment buildings set to cater for the increasing demand in property investment.

Herein lies the problem. With the sudden downturn in demand for property, Javea has been left with an over abundance of new apartments in a market struggling to find buyers. Many agents are see-ing buyers come and go without making a commitment to purchase as the majority sit on the fence waiting to see how far the market will fall.

As with most investment vehicles this can be a dangerous game to play. It is only necessary to look at the trading patterns of the individual investor on the stock market to discover that most individual investors waiting for a market to turn get left behind and miss out on the best opportunities.

The reason that institutional investors continue to buy in a falling market is that they buy on the basis of inherent value rather than a simple market trend. For the discerning investor, this should also ring true when considering a property investment.

If the underlying deal on a property purchase is of good solid value then it will buck the short term trend and provide above average returns in the medium to long term.

Whilst apartments in javea are currently in over supply, this should be seen as an opportunity rather than negative. Whilst the need to be discerning is more necessary than ever, those that look to find the value within the market will be tomorrows investment winners.

Neil Ebsworth is co-founder of http://www.amlaspain.com , a Spanish property portal for the Real Estate industry in Spain including Javea Costa Blanca, http://www.amlaspain.com/javea.asp