Property market proven stronger

There is a lot of talk regarding where the spanish property market is going. Will it get better, worse og stay the same for some time. With the newest statistics from the Notary Publics in Spain in hand, the property market is moving towards the better, the worse and the same…

The statistics shows a general improvement in the property market in Spain. Though it also shows a huge difference between “attractive” properties and “not so attractive” properties. As it impossible to discuss taste and what is good and bad, it is necessary to look at the bigger picture of what is attractive. In todays market, frontline or good located properties in Spain sees a huge interest, while properties located further from the sea, poor constructed and with limited views are hard to sell, and prices keeps on going down.
The property market is getting divided into 2 parts. The experts saying that property prices are going down are right, while those saying that prices are going up also are talking the truth. It is just very important to look at what kind and where the properties are located.

The coastal areas of Costa Blanca South (Alicante) and Almeria are experiencing huge interest of buying properties in good quality built to higher standards. The demands have lead to a boom of the new build properties. Pessimists will now say that no one has learned from earlier times, with lots of new build properties and not so many buyers. To knock the pessimist in the heads, are now statistics showing otherwise. More than 95% of the new built properties are already sold when the properties are completed. In the majority of new developments, there are buyers waiting to purchase their dream property on a specific location.

1 in 5 purchases of Spanish property now made by foreigners
Foreigners now make up just under a fifth of the total demand for Spanish property with 19% of all purchases in the first quarter of 2014 being made by international buyers. The period from January to March saw 15,402 purchases by foreigners which represents a 27.2% year on year increase.

The British are still number 1 in the ranking of the nationalities of Spain’s foreign buyers and make up 13.8% of the total followed by the French (10.5%), Russians (8.4), Germans (7.5%) and the Belgians (6.9%). The highest year on year increases in purchases were made by Americans (88.9%), Chinese (83.1%), Irish (78%), French (69.8%) and Russians with a 62.6% rise.

The regions that saw the largest increases in foreign buyers were the Basque Country with 43.3%, Madrid (42.5%), Catalonia (41.1%) and the Balearic Islands (36.4%). The statistics also showed the incredible importance of foreigners to the property sector of the Valencian region as 39.4% of the purchases made in the region during Q1 2014 were made by non-Spanish nationals.

The average price of housing bought by international buyers has also increased. The figure stood at ?1,588/m2 for the first three months of the year, up 1.3% year on year. This increase was larger in the Valencian region at 9.8%, a statistic that could be partially explained by foreigners increasingly preferring higher quality property in the region which is reflected by the type of new developments being built.

The construction sector has taken a huge hit during the years after the crisis. An activity drop of 83% is enormous. Those numbers is looking to improve now, with expected increases of 5% and 8% the coming years.