Spain Maintains Second Highest Life Expectancy in the World

Spain Maintains Second Highest Life Expectancy in the World

With the sun 320 days a year and the healthy life style its

no wonder the Spanish and its aging residents

live longer than Northern Europe 

The latest statistics from OECD suggest that the average life expectancy reached 83.2 years in Spain for 2016, meaning that Spain has the second highest life expectancy in the world after Japan.

In Japan the life expectancy is a slightly longer 83.4 years, but Spain is one of the healthiest nations in the world and offers the best chance of living a long and healthy life.

The data from the OECD census says that Spain has over 100,000 people who are older than 100. News outlet Reuters sent out their reporters to interview some of these people and find out how they live such long and healthy lives.

Some of the answers were the usual ones of “laugh, love, andeat well in Spain”, and then there were more intriguing answers. 106-year old Pedro Rodríguez swears that the secret to his longevity has been music as he has been playing the piano every day since he first learned how when he was young.

112-year old Francisco Núñez lives with his 81-year-old daughter at her home after shrugging off the local pensioners’ daycare; complaining that it had too many old people. 101-year-old Gumersindo Cubo suggests exploring his local woods as a child gave him the fortitude needed to live past 100. He attributes his long life to the pine resin he would inhale in the woods as a child, saying his mother would put a jar of it under his bed when he was sick.

Comas points out that all the people he talked to had their own strong support network of family and friends living by them, which is likely another reason they were able to reach such an old age. The Spanish approach of “family first”, which is also seen in Japan, is one of the main reasons Spanish people lead such long lives. Loneliness can be a real killer in the west but, as people grow older in Spain, their bonds only strengthen.

This, alongside the varied and healthy Mediterranean diet of Spain are what keeps the people there in fighting fit shape. Of course the welcoming climate and leisurely pace of life in the country also helps in creating a society that enjoys rich, long lives.

Property Sales in Spain Reach Second-Highest For Five Years During Third Quarter

Property Sales in Spain Reach Second-Highest For Five Years During Third Quarter

The Costa del Sol and Spain continue its property recovery

The latest data from the Spanish property registrar shows that a total of 103,055 homes traded hands in Spain between July and the end of September; representing the second-best quarterly performance in Spain for five years.

When compared to the third quarter of 2015 there were 11.1% more homes sold in the third quarter of 2016 as the property market became more active during 2016.

The third quarter was also up 4.4% over the second quarter of 2016 and showed the trend of each quarter being stronger than the last has continued since it began in 2010.

When you look at the 12 months leading to September there were 394,000 homes sold in Spain overall. This is an increase of 13.2% over the previous 12 months. 2015 itself was also a continuation of the growth the market saw in 2014, which is when the property market began to recover from years of contraction.

To look back even further shows that the amount of homes sold throughout Spain in the third quarter is the second-best quarter for five years; beaten out only by the fourth quarter of 2011 in which there was a mass fire sale of distressed properties.

Many experts expect that this upward trend will continue on into 2017 and the years after; thanks to the economic recovery of Spain and the consistent appeal the country has for being a premier destination for going on holiday and purchasing property to the people of Europe and the world as a whole.

Not everyone was feeling the positivity however as the data showed that the average price for property sold in the third quarter was 1.4% the average price from the second quarter.

Experts explained away the shrinking average price – prices in Spain have been increasing for around 18 months now – saying that it was mostly due to a shrinking number of new build homes being sold. New build homes are usually more expensive than a resale home and so they can provide the average sale price with a healthy boost.

The data from the registrar shows that only 17.1% of the homes sold in the third quarter were new builds, which was down from the 21% from the quarter before.

Even though there was a small fall in the average property price your average home in Spain is still being sold for around 3.3% more than it was this time in 2015.

Spanish Unemployment Drops at Highest Rate in 20 Years

Spanish Unemployment Drops at Highest Rate in 20 Years

Even though two-thirds of the jobs that were created in June were temporary positions, more and more open-ended jobs are being created.

Spanish unemployment is slowly turning a corner

Spain always sees a boom in jobs during the summer and this boom was bigger than ever with data showing the country welcomed 84,000 new employees to social security in June; representing the biggest single fall in unemployment the country has seen since 1997.

The Employment Ministry confirmed that 83,993 people registered with the state employment offices at the beginning of July. The current official unemployment figures now stand at 3.68 million in Spain.

Going on a month-by-month basis July saw 84,721 more people added to the payroll than in June. When you compare it to figures from last year there are 3% more people working this July than last July. Spain currently has 17.8 million people contributing to social security.

Many of these new jobs (around 51,000) were created in the hotel and catering sectors. This is confirmation of the trend that the reason Spain’s economy does so well during summer is because of the long summer tourism season. While many of these jobs are often temporary current trends suggest that many of these “summer jobs” could last longer and some may even become permanent positions.

Spanish daily El País are reporting that 7.6% of the new contracts signed in July, which is about 1.81 million, were open-ended. This means that the positions the contracts are for could last longer than the summer season. This might sound like a small figure but it is representative of a growing confidence in the hospitality sector; a confidence reinforced by the record number of tourists, higher spending per head, and the recovering economies of both Spain and Europe as a whole.

Marcel Jensen, an economy professor with the Autónoma University of Madrid said that the figures show how strongly the Spanish economy is doing right now and the cost of living in Spain is being kept low. More people are being employed each quarter. Marcel did warn that reforms would be needed to maintain this success in the long term though.

Such reforms, which have been introduced in the past few years to liberalise the employment sector of Spain, appear to have done a good job of boosting employment. Even so analysts and financial experts believe that the growth Spain has seen for the past two years will slow down within the next two years.

Spanish Homes Sold at Highest Volume in Five Years

Spanish Homes Sold at Highest Volume in Five Years

The Economic Ministry published new figures last week that show the amount of Spanish homes sold in June was higher than for the past five years.

Spain is defiantly back and investor are buying

The data shows that some 36,856 property transactions were registered in Spain during June. This was a 19.4% increase on June of last year and is the most homes sold in a single month since August of 2010. The figure also shows that there are 100 sales per 100,000 inhabitants of purchasing age; a threshold that has always been seen as the mark of a strong property sector.

Sales were on the up in 15 of the 17 autonomous communities of Spain during the month. The only communities that failed to report an increase were Navarra and La Rioja. June also can’t be considered a blip on the radar. For the year-to-date the average number of monthly transactions has increased by 16.4% compared to last year. Even taking the trend to the full past 12 months shows an encouraging increase of 14.7%.

The Spanish property market hasn’t seen such an increase in activity since August of 2011. It’s especially encouraging given that Spain is recovering from one of the worst recessions ever seen. Now though the Spanish economy is recovering and GDP is set to grow by over 2.7% this year and next year. Spain is also seeing a bumper summer season that is bound to brighten up those dark post-recession days and make them a thing of the past.

More encouraging data about the Spanish recovery and popularity came from the Airports Council International Europe (ACIS) this week. They found that the Malaga and Alicante airports are two of the fastest growing airports in Europe, seeing an increase in passenger numbers for the first half of 2016 of 14.6% and 16.1% respectively.

Elias Bendodo, the president of Turismo Costa del Sol said that the figures confirm what a great year the Costa is experiencing. Spain is seeing record numbers of tourists and are growing in the European market as a whole. If the first half of 2016 is anything to go by it looks the 2016 will be a record year for tourism in Spain.

Number of Spanish Homes Sold in First Six Months of 2016 Highest Since 2010

 Number of Spanish Homes Sold in First Six Months of 2016 Highest Since 2010

Thanks to a combination of low interest rates, affordable property prices, solid mortgages and a strong economy, Spanish real estate has never looked so attractive.

Spanish property sales continue there upward trend

The Spanish daily El País are reporting that the number of Spanish homes sold in the first six months of 2016 is the highest it’s been since 2010.

June saw a total of 36,856 real estate transactions across all of Spain and it looks like the summer months are going to see the trend from April, a month where sales growth year-to-year topped 19%, continue.

Growth was up 19.5% in June compared to June 2015, which also marks a three-year high for June. During the first six months of 2016 around 207,593 houses have been sold in Spain, according to the Economy Ministry. Most of the real estate activity has come from the five biggest cities of Spain; Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Alicante and Málaga. Málaga shouldn’t come as a surprise as they have the ever-popular Costa del Sol nearby.

VIVA already reported that foreign investment is responsible for a lot of this activity with real estate and construction making up a third of the €22 billion spent in Spain by foreign nationals.

The Institute of National Statistics did further analysis that showed the demand is increasing for luxury properties in Spain – something the Costa del Sol has in spades – as the economic recovery of the country is beginning to mirror the recovery being experienced by much of the western world.

Research undertaken by Bankinter suggests that the demand is only going to continue to increase. They released a report last week forecasting that Spain will see over 480,000 more property transactions in 2016, which would be a 10% increase over 2015. The bank also predicted that property prices will increase between 3-5% annually.

Experts are in agreement that the low interest rates are doing more than just encouraging spending. They are also making property investments in the Costa del Sol and Spain more attractive than regular savings bonds. All of this should lead to a strong 2017 and beyond for the real estate industry and Spain as a whole.

Spanish Property Prices Up At Highest Rate In Over Eight Years

Spanish Property Prices Up At Highest Rate In Over Eight Years

Spanish property prices were up 6.3% leading up to March 2016. Spain may have experienced some frantic campaigning in the lead-up to the general election last week, but the political situation caused by the December general election seems to not have affected the revival of the property market.

This was further evidenced after the national statistics unit published data showing that not only is the market growing, but property prices are also up by 6.3% in the 12 months leading to the 31^st of March 2016. This is the eighth year in a row that prices have risen following the six year year-by-year fall in prices since 2007.

It’s made better news because this rise is being seen in every Spanish region. 6.3% is only the nationwide average with some areas, such as Madrid, seeing higher rises. Madrid saw the highest rises of 9.7%, the Balearics saw a rise of 8.8%, Catalunya saw a rise of 8.6% and the Canaries saw a rise of 5.9%.

Prices were up 1.5% over the rise seen in the previous quarter. The regional variations were as varied as the regional variations in overall price rise. Prices in Madrid were up 2.9% over the last quarter with a rise of 2.1% in the Canaries, a rise of 1.5% in both the Balearics and Galicia. However there was a 0.2% drop in property prices in La Rioja and a 0.4% drop in Castilla-La Mancha.
One of the biggest rises was properties for sale in the Costa del Sol as it continues its recovery.

Malaga sees highest growth in number of startup businesses in Spain opened since 2007

Malaga sees highest growth in number of startup businesses in Spain opened since 2007

Due to the recent years surge in property sales, mortgage approvals and holiday bookings, the economy of Spain is back on track and with the sudden rise in the number of business startups gives a clear indication about the growth of economy. Malaga, the home to Costa del Sol has seen over 5,177 business startups opening in 2015, similar to the likes of how the economy was before the 2008 crash.

Highest start-up businesses since 2007 

The annual growth seen in Malaga province was 8.5%; which is the highest for business property for sale in Andalucía, and the Seville province stood at around 1,500 startups opening in the same year, taking the second place.

As per the statistics provided by INE (National Statistics Institute), 9,443 companies were opened in Spain totally for January 2016 alone, which is a 14.7% year on year growth against January 2015.

Other communities such as Madrid, Cataluna and Andalucía also saw a massive growth in the number of business startups and the counts stood at 1,823, 2,183 and 1,570.

All the business startups this year predominantly belonged to the real estate, finance and insurance sector in Spain and collectively attracted a capital of nearly €293 million while the communications and telecommunications sectors in Spain saw a total of €2.22 million being infused.

The whole of Spain and the Costa del Sol is feeling positive changes and you can feel the optimism in the air. Investment has returned and growth is moving forward in the right direction.