Average Spanish house prices rose by just 0.1% in April, according to the latest data from Spain’s leading appraisal company Tinsa, but prices on the Mediterranean coast jumped by 4.4%, way ahead of other regions, as you can see from the table above. Also out this week the house price index from the Property Registrars up 6.9%, but that is due to the special methodology they use.

TINSA HOUSE PRICE INDEX

House prices on the Mediterranean coast have been showing signs of life for several months now, even outperforming the Canary and Balearic Islands, according to Tinsa’s figures.

Presumably, the market on the coast is benefiting from foreign demand, but the latest Spanish home sales figures show activity slowing down in key coastal regions like Malaga (Costa del Sol) and Alicante (Costa Blanca).

To the extent that national average tells us anything, the latest index from Tinsa appears to confirm a trend towards lower price momentum in recent months, as seen in other indices included in the SPI House Price Index Tracker. Some commentators suggest this might have something to do with political uncertainty in Spain giving buyers more negotiating power over vendors.

Peak-to-present, Spanish house prices are still down 41% on average, and by 46.7% on the Mediterranean coast, where prices fell the most in the crisis. In contrast, prices have held their ground the best on the Spanish islands.

PROPERTY REGISTRARS’ HOUSE PRICE INDEX

Spain’s College of Registrars have also published their latest house price index this week, with a rise of 6.9% in the first quarter of the year (see chart below), up from the 6.65% clocked up at the end of 2015.

The registrars use a special methodology to arrive at what they describe as the “price index of housing based on repeat sales” or El Índice de Precio de la Vivienda de Ventas Repetidas in Spanish. Based on the Case-Shiller methodology from the US, the registrars use price data on properties that have sold at least twice in the period of study, in order to capture the true appreciated value of each specific sales unit. This index excludes a lot of data used in other figures, like new home sales and asking prices, but perhaps gives us a reasonable idea of price trends for the most liquid part of the Spanish real estate market.

Tinsa is the leading valuations company in Spain, and offers services in English such as legal searches, official online valuations, and energy certificates.