House prices and sales will rise in 2018 forecasts expert

Beatriz Toribio, the head of research at the Spanish property portal Fotocasa, recently said she expects Spanish house prices to rise in 2018, as new homes increasingly take centre stage.

“In 2018 we will see new builds become much more important, which will in turn lead to more sales,” she said. “And sharper price rises too since this type of property is more expensive and subject to higher taxes.”

Toribio forecasts that home sales will exceed 500,000 transactions this year “meaning a return to levels last seen in 2008”.

She explain that, although there were more buyers last year among the general public, there is also strong demand from investors, who, in the context of low mortgage interest rates, are drawn to returns from buy-to-let properties. According to fotocasa data, buy-to-let returns average 5.6% a year.

Also according to a recent report from fotocasa, ‘The experience of buying and selling property over the last year’, 85% of buyers who bought to invest in 2017 planned to let the property. Most of these (65%) were for long-term purposes, with 20% planning holiday or short-term lets.