José Manuel Campa, Secretary of State for the Economy, argues that Spain’s real estate sector will soon stop being a drag on economic growth.
With house prices down 23pc since the peak and the stock of property starting to shrink, the negative impact of Spain’s property bust on GDP will “almost disappear completely” in 2011, argues Campa.
Campa points out that house sales are starting to overtake new housing construction completions, meaning that “the stock of housing [for sale] is starting to shrink slightly.”
He also argues that resale prices are back to where they should be, having fallen 23pc since the peak. During the boom many experts like the IMF and The Economist argued that Spanish property prices were 20-30pc over-valued, so a 23pc fall means prices are now correct, says Campa.