Property sales forecast to rise 20pc by year end

2017 will close with home sales up 20% according to estimates from the valuation and appraisal company Euroval in the 13^th edition of their Property Market Report. It also states that sales went up by 10% in 2015 and by 14% in 2016.

Adapted translation of an article published by Fotocasa

Looking at regional detail, the lowest increase in sales was in the Basque Country and the highest in Castilla-La Mancha. Sales of new builds are going down while those of resale properties are on the up. Just 1 in every 10 sales is of a new build, which Euroval says explains the slow fall in supply and lack of new development.

Most sales continue to take place in Andalusia with 18% of the total. Catalonia, Madrid and Valencia follow and along with Andalusia, represent almost 65% of all property sales in Spain.

La Rioja is the region accounting for the least number of sales, less than 1%, followed by Cantabria, Extremadura, Asturias and Murcia with under 2%. In terms of sales and population ratios, Madrid lies in first place with 81 sales per 1,000 inhabitants. Valencia comes next with 72 and then Catalonia with 69. Asturias and the Balearics, both with 2, and Navarra with 3, have the lowest number of sales in terms of population size.

Price stability and the dominance of sales of resale properties are the other main conclusions in the report. “Despite the lack of new development and a clear shift towards rentals, we can conclude that the property market is currently stable,” said Euroval president José Vázquez Seijo at the end of the report.

Prices at the top end of the market fell by 4% compared to 2016 to around €2,765 a square metre. Prices at the bottom end also fell to €568 per square metre, 5% lower than last year. 23 provincial capitals saw prices fall, particularly Santander, La Coruña and Cadiz.

Just 7 provincial capitals, for example, San Sebastián, Gerona and Granada, saw an increase in lowest and highest prices. In 11, prices remained stable with minor drops and in another 8 capitals, they rose slightly.

Euroval also looked at the most frequent nominal values for property, listed according to the types with most demand and valuations in each provincial capital in Q1 2017. The report found that the cheapest properties, including those in the second and third sections, made up 30% of the total.