A series of indicators show that the Spanish property market is returning to its pre-crisis state of health: prices will rise by 5 per cent in 2018 (double the level of 2017) according to the Spanish bank BBVA, while around 570,000 new homes will go on sale, up from 300,000 last year.
Almost 130,000 homes were sold in the first quarter of 2018, an increase of 13.4 per cent on the previous quarter. “You would have to go back to the third quarter of 2008 to find a bigger figure,” said the Association of Spanish Property Registrars.
The British remain the most passionate and numerous buyers: they acquired 2,451 homes in the first quarter of 2018, compared with 1,316 Germans and 1,290 French.
Rental levels have followed the upwards march of sales prices: asking rents are 20 per cent more than in May 2018 and rents overall have risen 8 per cent since December. In Barcelona, rents are 40 per cent higher than in 2014, putting pressure on young people looking to find a place to live. As a result, there has been an increased focus on buying a home: 53 per cent of Spanish respondents to a recent survey said that buying property is a good investment, compared with 44 per cent in 2017. “The advantages of purchase against renting are gaining ground in the Spanish mentality,” said property expert Jesus Duque.
