Prices are 1.84% higher than in December
Second-hand housing in Spain finished January with an average price of 1,703 euros per square metre. This is 1.84% higher than the price in December. Looking at the year-on-year price, January saw an increase of 8.11% when compared to January 2018, when the price stood at 1,575 euros per square metre.
Prices have once again maintained the upward trend, but as Ferran Font, director of studies at pisos.com, says, “the increases are not distributed evenly throughout the country. The markets where the biggest increases are seen have lower stock pushing prices beyond the financial reach of most buyers. The addition of new property happens very slowly due to lack of land and the slowness of the administration.”
Font also notes that in those locations buyers have “serious access problems, not only because of a lack of savings or borrowing capacity, but because more potential buyers are returning from being tenants and would now prefer to pay a mortgage as renting has become so expensive.”
Autonomous Communities
The most expensive community in January was the Balearic Islands where the average cost per square metre is 2,973 euros/m². Coming next was the Basque Country (€2,710 p/m²), followed by Madrid (€2,548 p/m²). The cheapest communities were Castilla-La Mancha (€908 p/m²), Extremadura (€1,018 p/m²), and Murcia (€1,131 p/m²).
Year-on-year, the most significant increases occurred in Madrid (24.70%), the Balearic Islands (24.24%), and the Canary Islands (23.01%). The most significant decreases were seen in La Rioja (-5.98%), Extremadura (-4.46%), and Murcia (-3.76%).
In Andalucía, the average price sits at 1,617 euros per square metre. This reflects a year-on-year increase of 11.72%.
Provinces
By province, Guipúzcoa, with 3,223 euros per square metre, was the most expensive. Following were the Balearic Islands (2,973 €/m²) and Vizcaya (2,696 €/m²). On the opposite end of the table was Cuenca, with 690 euros per square meter. Other cheaper provinces were Ávila (€801 p/m²) and Ciudad Real (€806 p/m²).
The most significant increases from one year to the next were recorded in Santa Cruz de Tenerife (27.53%), Madrid (24.70%) and Las Palmas (24.39%). The steepest decreases were recorded in Lugo (-8.72%), A Coruña (-6.97%) and Segovia (-6.02%).
Provincial Capitals
The most expensive capital was Barcelona, with 4,764 euros per square meter. Behind it were located Donostia-San Sebastián (€4,700 p/m²) and Madrid (€3,840 p/m²). Ávila was the most affordable, with a price of 994 euros per square meter, followed by Huelva (1,127 €/m²) and Cáceres (1,135 €/m²).
The most intense increases compared to January 2018 were recorded in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (26.35%), Palma de Mallorca (26.05%) and Girona (25.73%). Logroño was the lowest (-7.93%), Zamora (-5.39%) and Segovia (-5.13%).
