Spanish house prices continue mixed performance
House prices in Spain continue to see a mixed performance, as reports highlight both growth and declines over the past year.
The latest data from the the Property Registrars shows that house prices have risen by their fastest rate since the financial crash, with values up 5.12 per cent over the 12 months to the end of June 2015 - up from the 2.65 per cent annual growth recorded in the previous quarter. Prices jumped 2.8 per cent during the three months to June 2015, leaving house prices 29 per cent below the peak.
The figures are a positive sign for the Spanish property market, which has enjoyed a period of steady recovery, driven by booming demand from foreign buyers, especially with the favourable exchange rates between the pound and euro. "These growth rates are clearly getting more intense," Spanish Property Insight translates the report as saying. "Everything indicates that the gradual decline in average prices are increasingly a thing of the past, though that is not the case everywhere."
Indeed, variation between regions is a common occurence, as tourist hotspots tend to enjoy the strongest price gains, including Madrid, the Balearics, the Canaries, Catalonia and the Valencian Community.
The data for June, though, is followed by less optimistic figures from August, as appraisal company Tinsa's latest report highlights a dip in property prices over the past year: values are now 0.9 per cent below the levels recorded in August 2014, according to the firm, with the Mediterranean Coast seeing a decline of 1.3 per cent, Metropolitan Areas seeing a dip of 4 per cent and Other Municipalities seeing a drop of 2.1 per cent.
It is nothing new for indices in Spain to declare different directions for house price trends, as each one measures recovery using different methods and the large supply of unsold property still hanging over Spain's market, a shadow that has seen properties held back by banks until values are more favourable. Nonetheless, there is a growing sign of consensus among the various statistical institutes in Spain, as both Tinsa and the Registrars concur that the Balearics and Canaries, and the Capitals and Large Cities, are showing the best signs of house price growth, with values rising 3.8 per cent and 0.5 per cent respectively.
The Registrars, meanwhile, acknowledge that there is still no guarantee that high property price growth will continue in the near future, although they highlight signs of a building recovery. from improving affordability and mortgage conditions to sustained foreign demand.
"Now more than ever rational decision making is needed to avoid the errors of the past, which came at such a high cost to our economy and society," the report concludes, calling for moderate growth rather than the speculative boom and bust of old. With Spain remaining the most popular country on TheMoveChannel.com for August, though, positive sentiment is clearly spreading.