Property prices in Spain record annual rise

The average price of a Spanish property ended 2015 higher than it had been at the start of the year – the first time this has happened since 2007.

The latest figures released by Spanish appraisal company Tinsa showed that average house values in the country rose by 1 per cent last year, leading many experts to believe that the market has now finally bottomed out.

The index, which is based on the firm’s own figures, show that prices rose the most in Catalonia with values there growing by 5.3 per cent, followed by Madrid up 3.3 per cent  and the Balearic Islands up 2.7 per cent.

What’s more, some 21 provinces and 15 provincial capitals saw price increases in the final quarter of 2015 compared to the same quarter in 2014.

However, not every part of the country fared well last year. The data shows that prices fell by 8.5 per cent in Navarre and by 4.3 per cent in Murcia throughout 2015, while there were falls of more than 5 per cent in nine provinces and 10 capitals in the final quarter of last year compared to the same period a year earlier.

While Tinsa believes that, overall, the latest figures are promising and show that the country’s property market is on the road to recovery, it also warns that price growth is likely to remain moderate over the coming 12 months.

“Prudence invites us to interpret rising prices in terms of stabilisation,” the report states. “The incipient change in the trend is based on market values currently at minimums, so a progressive normalisation of the market can mean large percentage change increases, which can be expected to moderate in the coming months.”

Article published 12th January 2016