Q1 saw price increases across the country
In the first quarter of this year almost all Spanish regions showed an increase in housing purchases, according to data released by the General Council of Notaries.
There were increases in all regions except for Navarra and Aragon, and around 90% recorded double-digit increases. Catalonia and Asturias saw the largest increases in sales numbers with sales figures jumping by 24.4% and 29.5%, respectively.
Home sales across the country increased by 18.6%. However, seven regions, while they did see an increase, saw figures below the national average, while the remaining eight regions saw increases above the average.
The number of sales of single-family homes increased by 18.2% with only Navarra and Aragon showing declining figures (-20.1% and -3.3%, respectively).
Average Prices
In the first quarter, the average price per m² increased by 4% to reach 1,297€, a figure that was significantly surpassed in the Basque Country, the Balearic Islands and Madrid, where prices reached 2,190€, 2,122€ and 1,874€ per m², respectively.
The average price per m² fell in four autonomous regions while it increased in most coastal and island regions with the largest increases seen in Castilla-La Mancha and La Rioja where prices increased by 14.6% and 15.4%, respectively.
Four communities saw prices fall including Aragón (-5.8%), Castilla y Leon (-3.3%) and Navarra (-3.3%).
The recovery of prices is clear in the coastal regions and islands, with both the Balearic and Canary Islands recording increases with prices rising 12% and 7.2%, respectively.
The average price of a square metre of a single-family home increased to 1,418€ while at the regional level the increases were between 2% and 4% for the majority. However, this was offset by some serious increases including La Rioja (13.7%) and the Balearic Islands (17%). The regions with the greatest falls in prices were Castilla y León (-5.4%), Aragon (-5.3%), Cantabria (-0.6%) and Castilla-La Mancha (-0.4%).
The price fluctuations were noticeably different when comparing resale property to new builds. New build property prices fell by 7.7% nationally, while the price of resale property increased by 22.3% in the first quarter of 2016. Despite this, the price of new property remains slightly higher than resales. The national average for new build property stood at 1,671€ per m², while for resale property the average price per square metre was 1,414€.
