The price of property in Spain rose by 2.65% in the first quarter of 2015 according to Spain’s Registrars. The data means that the year has started positively and that the improvements seen in 2014 have been carried over into 2015. Prices of Spanish property are now down 31% from their peak according to the Registrars.
2014 marked the first year in which prices rose since 2008 with Registry data putting the increase at 2.55% on 2013. Other statistics agencies backed up these findings with the INE (Instituto Nacional de Estadística) putting the rise at 1.8% and the Spanish Notaries reporting a 0.1% price increase for the year.
Most analysts believe that 2015 will see prices increase further as the Spanish economy continues to recover and the fundamentals of the Spanish property sector improve. Sales are also continuing to rise and the Registry data put the year-on-year increase at 9% for the first quarter of 2014.
New-build vs Resales
The positive sales data was again driven by resales with their numbers rising by 49.84% year-on-year to a total of 67,864 sales. New-build sales continue in the doldrums and registered a huge 39.92% year-on-year decrease after numbers of new-build sales fell to just 22,670 in the first quarter.
To many not familiar with Spain’s property sector it may seem normal that resales dominate over new-build sales but this has not always been the case in Spain with the Registrars’ statistics showing new-build sales outstripping resales for ten consecutive quarters from Q2 2008 to Q3 2010 and consistently being very equal throughout the boom period.
However, due to the lack of construction activity during the crisis new-build sales have plummeted. The balance should be corrected slightly over coming years as sales increase and demand rises for a different class of new-build property with better construction quality and a greater focus on energy efficiency.
Regional sales
The region in which most sales were registered in Q1 was Andalucia with 17,420 up 6.6% on Q1 2014. Following Andalucia was Madrid with 14,686 sales (+12.7% year-on-year), Catalonia with 14,282 (+17.2% yoy) and the Valencian Community where 12,453 sales were collated in Q1, a rise of 3.8% on the same period of 2014.
