The stock of housing in Spain is no longer growing, and is even trending towards decline, according to the latest data from the Ministry of Development.
At the end of 2013, the supply of residential homes stood at 25,441,306, a mere 58,891 more than the previous year, a slight 0.23 per cent increase, the Ministry estimates. That is the smallest increase since the Ministry starting publishing this data in 2001.
The glut of available homes, the result of massive over-building from 2001 to 2009, is regarded as a key element to any recovery in the property market. Consultancy RR Acuna de Asociados recently estimated there are more than 1.7 million houses for sale in Spain.
The latest data suggests that the supply may finally be stabilising, with few new homes under construction.
The short to mid-term future of the building industry lies in refurbishing the housing stock, not building new, Gonzalo Bernardos, a professor at Barcelona University, told El Mundo. With no new product, housing prices will likely rise in areas with limited supply.
“This situation generates insufficient supply in middle and upper class areas, which will lead to prices increasing around 10 per cent in 2015 and 2016,” he told the paper.
The stock of homes rose the most in Andalucia, up by 9,581, and Madrid, up by 9,405. In most other regions there was barely any change.
The biggest stock of homes is located in Andalusia (4,394,51), followed by Catalonia (3,888,233), the Valencian Region (3,161,095), and Madrid (2,932,915), according to the Ministry data. The biggest stock of second homes was in Andalusia (1,113,306) and the Valencian Region (1,104,812).
Juan Miguel says:
Hello Fellow Sufferers,
Let me just clarify on these stats!
So the residential housing supply is 25,441.306
This increased by 58,891
There are still 1.7 million homes unsold. (Acuna’s figures)
This to anyone who can master simple arithmetic is a very worrying statistic.
Surly we cannot be encouraged by this news!
How many homes are being sold each year? It seems that the increase is less than sales.
With good news like this, “Gracias a Dios1” we haven’t got any bad news.
If I have got this wrong please be kind enough to simply explain it to me.
Muchas gracias
Juan Miguel
Phil says:
Juan, as I understand it, the current glut of homes will take approximately 7 years to sell if latest monthly figures continuing, that’s if people actually want to buy these many of which are poorly built.
This timespan is for current stock, but as we know more homes are being built (why? I don’t know with such a glut), and even if sales pick up or continue, many more will flood the market, then of course Spain is increasing VAT on new homes which will slow it down again.