Vendors of resale properties dropped their asking prices by an average of 8.2pc in 2011, according to Idealista.com, one of Spain’s leading property portals.

In terms of the cost per square meter, the average Spanish home now costs 2,084 €/m2, down from 2,270 €/m2 a year ago.

“Price falls accelerated in 2011,” explains Fernando Encinar, head of research at Idealista. “Everything suggests they will continue falling in 2012, by how much depends on what the banks decide to do with their real estate assets: They (the banks) will be the ones to slow down or speed up the price adjustment, and private sellers will have to reduce their prices and expectations, led not only by the economic uncertainty but also by what banks do with their prices.” On the other hand, Encinar is confident the demand is there if the price is right, and if banks will lend.

Property prices fell in all of Spain’s autonomous regions, lead by La Rioja (-13.4%), Castilla-La Mancha (-13.2%) and Catalonia. Prices fell the least in Galicia (-0.3pc), Extremadura (-3pc) and Cantabria (-3.2pc).

The following table summarises resale asking price changes by autonomous regions according to idealista’s database of properties for sale.