Spain’s property market is a mixed picture, complicated by contradicting statistics, however, the overall outlook for prospective buyers is positive. Barcelona and the Balearic Coast are a couple of standouts, but Spanish real estate sales remain well below the 2007-08 levels, and asking prices appear to be falling. See the following article from from Property Wire for more on this.
If you think recent real estate figures in the UK are confusing, then look no further than the Spanish market where property stats are even more up and down.
The latest data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE) suggest that property sales in August were up 1% on the previous month and 26.6% year on year. In particular, resale properties had a good month in August with sales up 34% compared to last year.
But despite these apparently positive figures the sales market is still 24% down on 2008 and transactions are 45% down on 2007.
The brightest spot is Barcelona where the INE figures show the city is up 44% on last year and the worst is Las Palmas in the Canary Islands which is down 15%.
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But another set of figures are not so positive. The latest index from Idealista, a leading Spanish property portal, shows that average asking prices fell 2.7% over the three months to the end of September.
Comparing the two indices is not a good idea as the Idealista index is based on asking prices for apartments in its database and does not include other types of property such as detached homes. But it is significant as it shows a continued downward price trend.
According to Spanish property expert Marc Stucklin of Spanish Property Insight you can’t read too much into Spanish asking prices because they ‘are far more detached from reality than in other more transparent markets like the UK’.
He also points out that some parts of Spain are bucking the trend. For example, asking prices in The Balearics rose by 3.7% in the period and by 4.8% in the capital Palma de Mallorca.
‘Though far from perfect, The Balearics did a better job of urban development than most other Spanish tourist regions during the real estate boom. As a result, The Balearic coastline is still one of the most attractive in Spain and will be in a stronger position to attract property buyers as a result,’ he explains.
Along with The Balearics, prices rose in only two other regions, namely Cantabria and Galicia, both up 0.2%. Average asking prices fell the most in Murcia, down by 4.6% in just three months.
What it does mean is that for those looking to buy the Spanish market is very attractive at the moment.
This article has been republished from Property Wire. You can also view this article at Property Wire, an international real estate news site.
