Data Shows Spanish Building Industry to Grow 4% Annually

Data Shows Spanish Building Industry to Grow 4% Annually

Crain's have returned to the Costa de Sol which is all positive 

Bloomberg describes the Madrid skyline as being a forest of cranes. While the capital of Spain is still nothing compared to the forest of cranes Dubai once was, there is definitely a noteworthy amount of building work happening around the city.

The Spanish construction industry is back and better than ever. The number of new builds in 2013 fell off a cliff, dropping 96% compared to the peak of 2006. Not many would have predicted that it would take just four years for the industry to be full of cash and confidence once more.

Data from the Ministry of Public Works shows that the building industry – which includes constructing new homes and offices – is set to grow 4% annually through 2020, with a 5% increase expected in just Madrid.

The benefits of the stable real estate industry are being felt outside of Madrid as well. Building sites are propping up all over Spain, with data from Bloomberg showing a small but steady increase in construction.

Building activity is beginning to reflect the Spanish economy, which itself is expected to rise by over 3% for the third year running. The data shows a positive trend where projects are quickly replacing one another and leading to constant activity. The building industry appears to be making up for lost time.

Additional data from the College of Property Registrars in Spain shows that property sales for new homes in Madrid and Catalonia has increased 10% for the first quarter of 2017, almost identical to the growth in resale properties. The fortunes of the two sectors are connected, even though new build activity typically follows the trends in resales – a trend that is particularly true for the Costa del Sol, where new build activity has picked up significantly in the past 18 months.

Felix Lores, an economist with BBVA Research, believes Spain has learned their lesson from the last property boom. This time the recovery is being anchored on sustainable models of consumption and exports rather than on the bubble of short-term credit.

This represents a significant difference from what happened in the past. It’s expected that the annual increase for new home constructions in 2017 and 2017 will be over 6%. Typically a surge in construction activity would lead to an increase in GDP, which relied on the property sector. This time things are the other way around.

Official Data Shows Spanish Home Values up 4% Over Last Year

Official Data Shows Spanish Home Values up 4% Over Last Year





The statistics unit of the Spanish central government released their latest figures recently showing that the property industry is going from strength the strength as the average price for residential property in spain increased 4% over the past 12 months.

Buying property in the Costa del Sol is on the

increase and will continue to grow.

The official figures look at many different kinds of monthly data, trends, and regional variations and they seem to show that just how the real estate market of 2016 has performed.



The data comes from information on deeds that were registered through the year, revealing that there was an increase of 3.5% of resale property values over last year, with new home builds being about 7.3% more expensive.



If taken on the quarterly basis then the figures represent an increase of 0.8% over the previous quarter, which is another encouraging sigh for the industry that these steady increases in property prices have become the norm now. It should also alleviate the fears of people on both ends of the spectrum; both the fear that prices are going up too much and that they have begun to stagnate.



The reality of the situation is far more reassuring and sober. There are still some stark regional differences, which is actually a good thing. While it’s true some prices fell a little in some regions, in particular Murcia, Castilla y León, and Communidad Valenciana, there were also increases in the more popular areas of Madrid, along with Catalunya, the Costa del Sol, and the Balearics. These increases show how much buyers value location and infrastructure.



The figures should offer people considering jumping on the property ladder in 2017 some encouragement as it’s expected that, as strong as 2016 was, 2017 will be even stronger to buy property in Spain and the Costa del Sol.