Spanish property prices fell just 6.3% in 2009, the year of Spain’s monumental property crash, according to the latest figures from Ministry of Housing.

When you adjust for inflation, prices were down 7% in real terms over the year (see graph above). Big deal.

Of course everyone knows these figures are baloney, that in reality prices are down much further than this, but nobody really knows by how much. Assume between 10% and 20% and you probably won’t be far off (it depends upon what and where).

To emphasise just how absurd the Government’s figures really are, let’s look at the peak to trough fall. According to this measure, Spanish property prices have fallen just 9.95% since their peak in Q1 2008. So they would have us believe that, in the worst housing market crisis in Spanish history, prices haven’t even fallen in double digits. That compares to a fall of more than 30% in the US where you could argue the bust wasn’t half as bad.

The figures are so farfetched, there’s really not much point wasting time on them. I’ll just publish the usual table of selected regions showing latest prices (in €/m2), quarterly, annual, and 10-year change (see table below). You can check the results for the regions that interest you, but don’t take them too seriously.

The Ministry of Housing bases its figures on valuations carried out by official appraisal companies. I don’t’ imagine the Government doctors the figures, but it does tell you all you need to know about the accuracy of valuations in Spain.

Let’s hope the Ministry of Housing doesn’t use these figures to formulate policy (what policy, other than knocking down the legally built homes of British pensioners?).