Spanish property prices increased in February
The average price of second-hand housing in Spain in February was 1,574 euros per square metre. This represents a fall of -0.06% compared to January, when the price per unit area was 1,575 euros. When compared to February 2017 the variation was +2.21%.
According to Ferran Font, director of studies at pisos.com, “recovery is a concept that becomes obsolete when defining the current state of the housing market, given that the main indicators appear to have recovered. The residential sector has stabilised almost definitively in the most established places, such as the main capitals. However, there are areas that still see price falls due to over-stock”.
Autonomous Communities
The most expensive regions in February were the Basque Country (€2,514 p/m²), the Balearic Islands (€2,409 p/m²) and Madrid (€2,056 p/m²). The cheapest were Castilla-La Mancha (€887 p/m²), Extremadura (€1,048 p/m²) and Murcia (1,173 p/m²).
Year-on-year, the most significant increases in the price of used housing occurred in the Canary Islands (10.65%), the Balearic Islands (7.20%) and Catalonia (4.05%). The most significant negative variations were seen in Aragón (-5.65%), Asturias (-4.53%) and Navarra (-4.26%). In Andalucia the average price in February was €1,449 p/m².
By Province
Barcelona had the greatest annual increase among the provinces (7.73%), the Balearic Islands (7.20%) and Las Palmas (3.84%).
Only one province showed a double-digit year-on-year fall during February; in Zaragoza prices fell by 10,92%. Also seeing significant falls were Albacete (-9.41%) and Almería (-9.15%).
In order of price, the highest property prices in February was Guipúzcoa, with €2,765 p/m². It was followed by Vizcaya (€2,572 p/m²) and the Balearic Islands (€2,409 p/m²). On the opposite end of the scale we find Cuenca, with an average of 658 euros per square meter. Other “cheaper” provinces include Toledo (€761 p/m²) and Ciudad Real (€766 p/m²).
As for provincial capitals, the most intense increases in property prices compared to February 2017 occurred in Palma de Mallorca (9.58%), Madrid (6.86%) and Barcelona (6.57%). Those that fell the most were Albacete (-10.20%), Cádiz (-9.54%) and Huesca (-9.34%).
When ordering the provincial capitals by price, Barcelona was the most expensive, with 3,925 euros per square meter. Next in the list of expensive capitals were Donostia-San Sebastián (€3,745 p/m²) and Madrid (€3,091 p/m²). The capital of Ávila was the most affordable with 946 euros per square meter. Other cheap provincial capitals were Cuenca (€993 p/m²) and Huesca (€1,042 p/m²).
Mortgage Data (2017)
The latest data from the INE shows that in 2017 there was an increase of 9.7% in the number of new mortgage loans, the fourth consecutive year of positive annual variations.
“This is the largest number of new mortgages granted since 2011, which shows the consolidation of mortgage financing in our country,” explains Beatriz Toribio, director of studies at fotocasa. “More mortgages are granted and for greater amounts because there is liquidity and interest in the purchase of housing has returned,” she adds, referring to an increase of 6.3% in the average amount loaned.
Toribio emphasizes that “the total of granted mortgages (310,096) is very far from the 775,000 granted in 2007, and much further from the 1.3 million that were signed in 2016.
“We cannot compare with the levels of the boom years when practically anyone could get a mortgage. Today, banks apply higher solvency criteria.” she adds.
For Toribio, the trend in 2018 will be positive since “there will still be mortgage products with favourable conditions, with low interest rates, minimum Euribor and new mortgage laws, which will bring more transparency to the mortgage market “.
