Resale asking prices for property in Spain fell 0.4% in July compared to the same month last year, according to the index published by Idealista.com, a leading property portal. The problem is average asking prices in Spain are a long way from the reality of what buyers are prepared to pay.
Vendors are now asking an average of 2,365 €/m2, down from 2,374 €/m2 in July last year.
For the first time the number of autonomous regions where prices rose and fell was equal (8). It was the same story in provincial capitals, where prices rose and fell in 24.
By autonomous region, prices fell the most in Murcia (-1.9%), followed by Navarra and The Valencian Community (-1.8%). By province, prices fell the most in Lleida (Catalonia), down 4.6%.
At the other extreme, prices rose the most in The Balearics (+2.5%), Cantabria (+1.5%) and Galicia (+0.9%).
By the end of July, asking prices were the highest in The Basque Country (3,525 €/m2), followed by Madrid (3,270 €/m2), and the lowest in Extremadura (1,402 €/m2), Murcia (1,441 €/m2), and The Canaries (1,626 €/m2).
As always, it needs to be pointed out that asking price data in Spain is a poor guide to transaction prices. Take the fact that, according to the idealista data, asking prices rose by 2.1% in Almeria, a region where transaction volume is down 62% year-to-date, according to figures from the National Institute of Statistics – are more reliable guide to market temperature than Idealista’s asking prices.
