BBVA, Spain’s second biggest bank, has published a new report with upbeat projections for the Spanish housing market in 2015.
Citing improved expectations for economic growth, and improving financing conditions, BBVA forecast that 2015 will deliver more home sales “accompanied by a moderate growth in prices, and another rise in development activity”.
As they have said before (see article: Seven Reasons For Optimism) BBVA claim the Spanish property market bottomed out in 2014. The end of Spain’s long recession, a return to job creation, and increasing mortgage credit, have all boosted consumer confidence, which will fuel more property sales.
BBVA point out that recent data suggests Spanish house prices have finally clawed back to stability after seven years of crisis, with official data showing that prices rose for the first time since 2008, on a quarterly basis at least.
New home building licences also ended 2014 in positive territory for the first time since the bubble burst.
“The trend towards recovery will take hold during 2015,” says the report from BBVA Research, predicting that GDP will increase by 2.7 per cent this year, one of the highest levels in the Eurozone.
BBVA forecast the Spanish economy will create half a million new jobs, whilst interest rates will remain relatively stable in their most likely scenario. “All these factors suggest another increase in property sales, and that prices and development activity will respond to with growth,” they conclude.
