This is a website for buyers, owners, and sellers of property in Spain, offering reliable information and resources to help you get things done with confidence. It is run by Mark Stücklin, author of the Spanish Property Doctor Column in The Sunday Times (2005-2008), and the book ‘Need to Know: Buying Property in Spain’ published by Collins.
Quarterly figures from the General Council of Notaries show that home sales in Q3 last year rose in all Spanish autonomous regions with the exception of Navarre, suggestion the recovery is not limited to big cities and the coast.
Last week the notaries released figures for the market in November that did not include any breakdown by regions. Yesterday they released figures for the third quarter (Q3) of 2015, explaining how sales changed by region (illustrated by chart above).
As a national average, home sales rose by 14.7% in Q3 of 2015, compared to the same period last year, but rose by more than 20% in Murcia, La Rioja, Cantabria, and the Canary Islands. However, it’s worth pointing out that a region like Murcia has a relatively small housing market, where even a modest increase in the number of sales represents a big percentage increase.
Regions with growth between 10% and 20% included the much bigger regions of Catalonia (capital Barcelona), Andalusia, the Valencian Community and Madrid, which combined were responsible for almost two thirds of all home sales in the period.
The regions where sales increases below 10% were Castile and Leon, the Balearics, Galicia, and Castile-La Mancha.
The only region where sales fell in Q3 year-on-year was Navarre, home to the famous bull-running city of Pamplona, where transactions plunged 25%, the second consecutive quarter of big declines in the region.
Looking at the first nine months of last year, home sales were up nationally 12.5% compared to the same period in 2014, though it is “possible to observe greater relative dynamism in coastal regions, which grew more than the national average in the period,” say the Notaries.
HOUSE PRICES
“The recovery in prices per square metre continues, though far from uniformly,” say the notaries. “The increase in prices at a national level (+2.7%) was somewhat below the previous quarter (+3.6%). Seven regions increased more than the national average, including the Valencian Region, Madrid, and the Balearic and Canary Islands…..prices rose below the national average in four regions, including Andalusia and Catalonia…..prices fell in six regions…. by double digits in La Rioja and Navarre.”
John britton says:
Interesting info. We are looking to buy in Spain this year. Have we missed the boat ?
MAS says:
No you haven’t Jon, though the best of the bank repossessions have already gone a few years ago (mostly to insiders)
Depends where you’re looking to buy to a large extent of course. You’ll need a good understanding of Spanish taxation and transfer and running costs (which are high) though before you can assess if a purchase makes financial sense. Pure investment aside, satisfying a desire to own in Spain however is still eminently possible.
David says:
Not at all, there are 1000’s and 1000’s of distressed properties for sale and sellers willing to bite your hand off. Agents will always talk the market up as well. There have been numerous false dawns for years. It’s still Buyer Beware.
ggb says:
Here in Mallorca properties priced realistically, as opposed to greedily, seem to sell in a reasonable time, especially in the up-and-coming areas of Palma. The bottom end of the market in tourist resorts is still very sluggish.
David says:
Good post ggb, Mallorca is and always will be a niche market compared to the overbuilt Southern Costas. Scenically Mallorca is beautiful and the hills, countryside, and coasts were never bastardised as the Spanish mainland was!