A bit of good news for once. The Spanish property sector has made some progress towards cleaning up its act, according to the latest bi-annual report on real estate sector transparency published by Jones Lang LaSalle, an international property consultancy.

In the 2008 edition of Jones Lang LaSalle’s Global Real Estate Transparency Index, which measures corruption in real estate sectors worldwide, Spain has risen two place from 18th in 2006 to 16th today. As a result, Spain is now rated 10th in Europe, and 16th in a world ranking of 82 real estate markets.

Corruption is not the only variable measured by the index, which also takes into account other factors such as legal frameworks, respect for private property, levels of professionalism, and the availability of reliable market statistics. The improved availability of information, plus greater professionalism in the Spanish property sector lie behind Spain’s rise in the rankings.

The Index, which Jones Lang LaSalle says provides a rigorous framework for comparing the level of real estate transparency across world markets, shows that nearly half of the countries surveyed in 2006 demonstrated a significant improvement in their transparency score two years later.

“Transparency levels globally are improving as governments seek to streamline regulatory and legal hurdles to aid cross-border movement of capital and corporate facilities,” says a press release from Jones Lang LaSalle. “Only Venezuela posted a lower transparency score this year compared with 2006, principally due to changes in government regulations and new taxation policies targeting foreign investors.”

In keeping with historical results, Anglo-Saxon real estate markets remain the most transparent in the world. Top of the ranking are Canada, Australia, the US, New Zealand, and the UK, in that order.