Spain Mortgage Market Records 14% Growth in 2016
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| Buying property in Spain has never been so easy or cheap |
While it’s hard to accurately gauge the growth of the
Spanish property market in 2016 because there are a lot of different metrics
involved in measuring it, mortgages are one area where the growth is obvious.
After all, mortgages are always mortgages. The data from the
Spanish central statistics institutes shows that 14% more mortgages were
approved in 2016 over 2015. There were a total of around 281,328 mortgages
issued last year in Spain, with December welcoming the 29th
year-on-year increase across 30 months as 20,747 mortgages were taken out by
new homebuyers.
December alone saw a 6.9% increase over December of 2015,
and continued the welcome trend of increased confidence in the Spanish property market. It also served as more proof that the boom is supported by foreign and
domestic buyers alike.
Referring to the trend as an “upturn” would be a little
unfair though. The word “upturn” suggests that it’s just temporary, while the
reality is that things have been looking good for 30 months now. That’s hardly
a temporary boost.
Something else interesting about the data is that the
average loan was around 2.8% higher than it was in 2015, which shows not just
an increase in property prices (an increase that ranges depending on who you
ask) but also the growing confidence of banks and other lending institutes in
the solvency of borrowers. This basically means that more Spaniards are
employed in secure, well-paying jobs, leaving them in better positions to buy
homes and reassuring banks that the economy is doing well.
In terms of numbers, the average mortgage in December was
€112,680, with an average of €109,759 for the entire year.
