Weekender Alicante North Issue 106

30 FRIDAY 30TH AUGUST 2019
www.weekender.news
Slowdown in
house price
growth
HOUSE prices in Spain rose by
three per cent on average in the
second quarter of 2019, new figures
have revealed.
That compares to four per cent
in the previous quarter and an increase
of 5.8 per cent in the final
quarter of 2018 – figures which
highlight a continuing slowdown in
house price growth.
The figures come from the latest
local market report published by
Tinsa, one of the largest independent
property valuation companies
in Spain. Its quarterly figures are
much anticipated by market watchers
and investors.
According to the report, the slowdown
is most noticeable in the city of
Barcelona where “after years of significant
rises” housing is now only
1.6 per cent more expensive than it
was 12 months ago.
The Spanish housing market had
been in decline from 2008 to 2015
before its return to growth in the
first quarter of 2016.
It ended last year strongly with
a 10 per cent increase in sales compared
to 2017.
Average prices in Spain have
increased over 11 consecutive
quarters, although Tinsa experts
describe the latest rise as “practically
insignificant.”
According to the report: “Prices
have accumulated a rise of 12.8 per
cent since their post-crisis minimum,
and now stand at 34.1 per
cent below the highest reached
in 2007”.
Among the largest provincial
capitals, only Valencia saw average
price rises of more than 10 per
cent in the last quarter, although
Palma de Mallorca, Zaragoza and
Seville saw hikes of more than eight
per cent.
And just three regions – Navarra,
Aragon and Comunidad de Madrid
– showed price rises in excess of five
per cent in annual terms.
The average time taken to sell a
property in Spain, which relates the
supply of property on the market to
the rate of sales, stood at 8.2 months.
Another set of figures, this time
from the government’s central statistics
unit, also reported a nine
per cent fall in registered housing
sales in June, compared to the same
month in 2018.
The figures follow an earlier
report by international property
experts Knight Frank, which looking
forward to the rest of 2019,
concluded: “There is expected to be
a stabilisation in demand and in
house prices.”
Analysts at Caixabank take the
same stance. They believe the Spanish
housing market is now entering
a “more mature phase” which
is highlighted by a weakening in
growth in both demand and prices.
In a recent report it said: “The
factors which support the expansion
of the housing market continue
evolving positively but are losing
dynamism.”
Its experts added that the supply
of new housing continues to “grow
vigorously”, especially in areas of
Spain with the highest demand.
And they added: “Moderation
should not be interpreted as a sign
of weakness in the sector, but rather
as a normalisation towards more
sustainable growth rates following
the strong growth experienced during
the recovery.”