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.
A new report just published by the Spanish appraisal company Sociedad de Tasación (ST) reveals the biggest inventory of newish homes for sale is on the Costa del Sol.
ST research of new home inventories on the Spanish coast and in the big cities of Barcelona and Madrid shows there was a total of 5,594 new or never previously occupied homes for sale on the Spanish coast at the end of 2016, not including the Balearic and Canary Islands.
The new homes inventory broken down by coast was as follows:
- Costa del Sol 2,482
- Costa Blanca 2,111
- Costa Dorada 378
- Costa Cálida 345
- Costa Brava 279
The supply of new(ish) homes for sale in Spain’s two biggest cities was 2,158 in Madrid and 1,072 in Barcelona, less than the Costa del Sol in both cases. So it looks like the Costa del Sol, in particular, is still well-supplied with never-sold homes left over from the boom years, though the supply of new projects, which is more in demand than the boomtime glut, is still fairly scarce.
Commenting on the figures in the report, Juan Fernández-Aceytuno, head of ST, told the press that the “offer of homes is scarce in the big population centres like Madrid and Barcelona, where inventories are getting short and driving up rental prices significantly. This will generate an automatic increase in purchase prices.”
He also pointed out that although the market recovery is consolidating, and price are expected to rise 3% on average this year, the market is still “far from cruising speed for a country of 45 million people with GDP growing at 3%.”
Geoffrey says:
It is very difficult to get any real feel for the state of the property market on the Costa del Sol. It seems that, in Malaga at least, apartments rent quite easily to local people. However further along the coast there are obviously a large number of properties with Se Vende notices, either occupied or vacant. Property prices still seem to be crazy here, and I’m sure much lower than the equivalent in the Barcelona area. Possible to buy a three bedroom townhouse, walking distance to the beach, for 160,000 Euros. I’m expecting prices to rise steadily over coming years .. but who knows!