Property prices appear to have stabilised
The price of resale property in Spain fell by 0.2% during May, to stand at €1,537 p/m², according to the latest house price index from property portal Idealista.
This figure represents the fourth consecutive month of falls, according to Idealistas figures, which, since February, has accumulated a decline close to 4%. For example, if the cost per square metre was 1,597 euros in January, today it is €60 cheaper, representing a depreciation of 5,400 euros in a home of 90m².
Autonomous Communities
Despite these falls, the cost of used housing has still gone up 2.1% since the start of the year with increases seen in 13 out of 17 autonomous communities.
During May, there were price increases in only 5 communities with the largest increase seen in the Canary Islands, where the cost per square metre increased by 0.6% over the previous month. The communities of Murcia and the Balearic Islands also saw increases of 0.6%.
The only other two communities to see increases were Navarre and Asturias with increases of 0.4% and 0.1% respectively. In Catalonia the prices remained stable.
At the other end of the scale the largest decline was seen in La Rioja with a 1.8% fall, while Castilla La Mancha saw prices fall by 1.4%, and Extremadura saw prices fall by 1%.
No communities have registered increases continuously since the start of 2016, suggesting the market has stabilised.
Euskadi is currently the most expensive community to purchase Spanish property with a cost per square metre of 2,540 Euros. Madrid comes a close second with a price of 2,352 euros p/m², while the Balearic Islands take the final podium with a cost per square metre of €1,886.
Conversely, Castilla La Mancha is the cheapest place to buy with a cost of 921 euros p/m², followed by Extremadura and Murcia with costs of €933 and €1,022 p/m², respectively.
Provinces
Prices remained positive in 17 of Spain’s provinces with the largest increase seen in Lugo where costs increased 1.5%. The biggest drops were seen in Cuenca and Almeria where prices fell by 2.6%. Girona and Palencia also saw prices fall with both registering drops of 2.2%.
Cuenca is the cheapest province for property with a cost per square metre of only 829 euros, representing a cumulative fall of 6.5% since March.
San Sebastian remains as the most expensive town with a square metre costing 3,891 Euros. Barcelona follows closely with a cost of €3,488, while Madrid takes third with a cost of €2,863 p/m².
