Average Spanish Property Values 2.3% Higher in June Compared to Last Year

Average Spanish Property Values 2.3% Higher in June Compared to Last Year

Costa del sol continues to be a great investment 

Data on the price of Spanish property from valuation firm Tinsa shows that the average selling price of property in Spain was 2.3% higher this June compared to June of last year, bringing the streak of monthly increases in house prices to 10 straight months. 

While the data from Tinsa doesn’t go into the actual average property price for each region, it does show the largest increases in prices are found in the coastal regions and major cities. The average property price for regional capitals was 4.2% for example, which is above the national average. While property prices increased an average of 2.4% across the Mediterranean coastline. 

When analysing the average house price across the first half of 2017, Spanish property prices were up 2.8% compared to the first half of 2016, with island property prices seeing the sharpest increase at 7.2%. 

The price increases will no doubt be welcomed because they are gradual and steady. There hasn’t been a price shock, spike, or crash across the past 18 months plus. It’s just been a consistent increase in demand, which means a consistent increase in price. 

These factors are giving economists and property experts alike plenty of encouragement. They can see for themselves an industry with plenty of foreign investment and a growth in domestic interest, as well as increasing confidence from businesses and lenders. 

This is the reason for the 2.4% increase in building licenses across the past year. It’s also why actual sales increased 23% year-on-year as of May, and mortgage approvals increased 10.4% in April – a figure that correlates with the decrease in unemployment as Spanish unemployment has fallen 10.7% across the past year.

Amount of Foreign Buyers Grew Higher Than Spanish Buyers in Spanish Property Market

Amount of Foreign Buyers Grew Higher Than Spanish Buyers in Spanish Property Market

Costa de sol property for sale continues to be in demand

Data has emerged that shows the amount of non-Spanish property buyers in Spain grew by 12.9% in 2015. Roughly 1 in 5 homes sold in Spain in 2015 was sold to a foreign buyer.

Overall a grand total of 76,780 homes were sold to foreigners in Spain. This was a big increase on the number sold in 2014 and was much higher than the 9% increase in Spanish buyers.

A total of 383,987 homes were sold in Spain 2015. Outside of native buyers the most buyers came from Britain. British buyers accounted for 20.6% of all the homes sold to non-Spanish buyers.

British interest also grew more than any other country. The number of homes sold to British buyers was up a whopping 37.7%; over 4 times the increase in growth for Spanish buyers.

British property buyers bought a total of 15,810 homes last year. They were definitely the biggest foreign national group. France came in second with 8.8% of the homes sold to non-nationals going to the French. Next came the Germans at 7.5%, Belgians at 5.7% and Italians at 5.3%.

The sixth-largest nationality were the Romanians. They made up 5.3% of all the homes sold to foreign nationals. This was a massive growth of 59% on the previous year. The amount of Russian interest dropped a little and the amount of American interest stayed roughly the same.

Most of the property sold to a foreign buyer was in Andalucía with 20.5% of all the homes sold to foreign nationals in the city. This suggests that the climate, infrastructure and culture of the entire Costa del Sol region is bringing in the buyers.

The Valencia region was the place where the most property was sold to foreign buyers though. Valencia is home to Costa Blanca and 27.6% of the homes sold to foreign nationals were in the Valencia region. Other popular regions were Catalunya at 15.3% and the Canary Islands at 10.1%.

Spanish Economic Recovery Leads to Higher Wages

Spanish Economic Recovery Leads to Higher Wages

The Spanish Institute of National Statistics has released data that shows Spanish wages have risen by almost 2%. This is the first rise of this magnitude in over a decade.

The cost of living in Spain is stable and the average gross salary in the final quarter of 2014 was €2,026.14 per month. This was just under 2% higher than it was for the last quarter of 2014.

Wages are slowly increasing in Spain

This rise is the largest rise in wages seen since 2000 when this particular statistic was reported annually. When you add in the negative inflation which has pushed down the consumer price index by 0.8% it looks like Spanish workers have a 2% rise in their spending power.

Madrid is where the wages are currently the highest, followed by the Basque Country and Catalonia. Valencia is where wages are currently the lowest in Spain. There the wages are almost 700 euros less than in Madrid.

In terms of percentage rises the biggest wage rise happened in the Canaries. They experienced a 4.6% wage increase. The Castilla y Leon region saw the second highest with 2.7%.

The debt ratio for Spain also went below 99% in the final quarter of 2015 according to the Bank of Spain. This was a great indication that the plans to reduce public borrowing are working. There is still a large average debt load per head in the country but this is expected to fall during 2016.

The conclusion of this report confirms that Spain is recovering in all sectors especially in the property market where buying property in Spain has seen continual growth over the past year and looks like it will continually do so, not just from foreign buyers but by Spanish nationals buying property again in spain.