Part Two of Our Year in Review for Spanish Property in 2016
The second half of 2016 continued the positive momentum of
the first half, proving anyone who thought the optimism would be dented by the political strife of Spain and Europe as a whole. How wrong they were…
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| The Costa del Sol continues to recover and confidence has returned |
July Was Just Marvellous
There were a lot of positive words said about the Spanish
property market during July; including how things were performing and where
things could go in the future. It was suggested during July that the market
could be headed to five incredible years of growth, beginning with 2016. These
positive words came straight from the director of the real estate programme in
the University of Barcelona Gonzalo Bernardos. They were echoed by Mark
Stucklin of the UK, who added that Barcelona, Marbella, Madrid, Ibiza and the
other hot spots of Spain are guaranteed to achieve growth.
August Was a Real Job
The data from August 2016 showed that Spain had their lowest
drop in unemployment in over 20 years with over 84,000 jobs created in June.
Many of the jobs were seasonal roles, but it was still representative of a 3%
year-on-year increase of the amount of people in the workforce. Needless to say
the figures represented positive trends for the economy.
September saw Expat Enjoyment
All this data wouldn’t mean much if Spain couldn’t attract
people to its shores. There are many other countries that offer affordable
properties and a stable economy, so what is it about Spain that attracts all
the expats? There are a number of things really; the culture, the climate, the
people, and the history. This balance is the reason that 92% of the expats living in Spain said they were satisfied with life; adding that Spain was a
comfortable and easy country to settle down in.
October Offered Food For Thought
The climate and the friendly natives aren’t the only things
bringing the world to Spain. TripAdvisor suggests that Spain is home to what is
considered to be the greatest restaurant in the world in Lasarte; a
three-Michelin star restaurant found near San Sebastian. Lesarte managed to
hold on to the achievement for the second year in a row and was joined in the
list of top-ten restaurants by neighbouring Azurmendi Gastronomic.
November Saw Sustained Sales Growth
The Office of National Statistics (INE) had seen by November
how excellently the Spanish property market had performed during 2016. They
unveiled data showing that almost 400,000 properties were sold in the 12 months
leading up to September 30. This was an increase of 13.2% in a year, and really
showcased the stability of the market which saw increases in home sales during
24 of 25 months. It looks like 2016 could be the year Spain sells the most
properties since the recession.
December saw Records Broken in the Costa del Sol
December saw Spain end the year on quite the high. Some 12
million visitors flocked to the Costa del Sol in 2016; an increase of 10.2%
over the previous year, and the highest number of visitors ever recorded in the
region. Thanks to some 26 million overnight stays and over €11 billion spent by
tourists, 2016 was truly a record breaking year for Costa del Sol. It’s
expected that the region could smash all the new records as soon as 2017.
