Spanish property to recover sooner than expected?
Sunrise on the Costa del Sol Photo: Barbara Walsh Photography
Spanish property could recovery sooner than expected, if one expert's comments are to be believed.
Ignacio de La Torre, a partner in financial advisor Arcano, made his predictions during a presentation of the firm's economic report, The Case fo Spain III: Plus Ultra.
His comments, reported in El Mundo and translated by Spanish Property Insight, say that the recovery of the country's housing market "will take place sooner than many forecast, and with higher and quicker price rises than the market expects".
De La Torre dismisses price forecasts based on incomes, higlighting the influence of other factors, such as interest rates and the European Central Bank.
While De La Torre is a financial expert, though, he it not a real estate expert. Nonetheless, his predictions arrive as a wave of positive figures are released for Spain's housing market.
The General Council of Notaries' latest statistics show that transactions completed in 2014 totalled 364,401, up 19.1 per cent from 2013. Apartment sales climbed 17.3 per cent year-on-year, while house sales surged by an even higher 26.8 per cent.
Prices also edged up by 0.1 per cent at the end of 2014 year-on-year, in terms of price per square metre. This price was driven by growing values of apartments (up 1.4 per cent), which offset the decline of values of individual family homes (2.7 per cent).
Mortgage approvals for property purchase also increased 39.4 per cent.
The positive trend is backed up by the National Institute of Statistics (INE), whose most recent report shows that the Spanish property market expanded in 2014 for the first time since 2010. According to the INE, 286,408 home sales were completed last year (excluding social housing), 4 per cent higher than 2013.
Sales grew in nine months of the past 12, a significant turnaround from the declines in nine months out of 12 recorded in 2013. Nonetheless, sales remake 60 per cent lower than the peak recorded in 2007, indicating how far the market has still to recover.
De La Torre cites foreign demand as another factor that could speed up recovery, though. Indeed, the INE data shows that sales increased by the most in 2014 overall in Malaga and the Balearics, which it attributes to overseas investment.
The Notaries note that the strength of the figures is heightened by the relative performance of the market in 2013, which saw many of its sales pushed forward to 2012 to take advantage of the tax relief that expired at the end of the year.
Nonetheless, the Notaries forecast continuing stabilisation and recovery in the coming months, albeit with "more moderate values".
Whether it occurs sooner or later, the Spanish recovery is certainly on its way.