Spanish house prices fell by the most in the third quarter of this year since a massive property bubble burst around the start of 2008, according to figures released Friday by the National Statistics Institute (INE).
The INE said prices declined 15.2 percent in the period July-September from a year earlier after declining 14.4 percent in the previous three months. Prices have now fallen for the past 18 quarters, with the pace of the falls accelerating over the past year. Prices in the third quarter of last year were down 7.4 percent, eased 11.2 percent the following quarter and dropped 12.6 percent in the first quarter of this year.
The average price of existing homes declined an annual 16.4 percent, while the price of new homes dropped 13.6 percent. Prices fell in all of the Spanish regions, with the biggest fall experienced by Madrid where they declined 17.9 percent, followed by Asturias where they dropped 17.5 percent.
Home sales have picked up in the past few months in anticipation of an increase in the value-added tax rate on new housing to 10 percent from four percent at the start of next year, when the government will also remove tax breaks for mortgage payments on the main home.
However, demand for housing remains conditioned by an unemployment rate of over 25 percent and by tight credit.
All is not lost: they say that the end of the property crisis is coming from the East, where Spain offers sunny weather, good services, excellent communications and now, cheap housing too. This has become a land of opportunity for a certain type of foreign client with money in their pockets. Mortgage loans may have dried out, but that does not matter; these customers pay in cash.
The Mediterranean region is producing a new model of real estate opportunity: the two-bedroom apartment for 60,000 euros. This is what some banks had been trying to avoid for a long time: demolition prices. But there it is. Reality has moved faster than the government and its bad bank project.
There are two ways of looking at life in the real estate sector. Looking out from the top, on the 19th floor of Madrid's Torre Picasso, the workplace of investment fund consultants, the situation is viewed with a cold, cautious eye: "In the short term, the bad bank will act like the casting-out-nines technique. Things will never be the same," says Rafael Roldán, an executive at Ernst & Young. Or, in other words, big capital has yet to make a move. ...continue reading "Foreign nationals taking advantage of falling costs are descending on the ‘costas’"
House prices have fallen by 14.4% in the second quarter of 2012 compared to the same period of 2011, according to the House Price Index (HPI) of the National Statistics Institute (INE). This percentage represents the largest decline in this statistic since it was published in 2008.
This reduction in the house prices is almost two points higher than the experience in the first quarter of 2012, when prices fell by 12.6%. Thus, there were already 17 consecutive quarters in which house prices have negative annual rates. Actually, since this 'CPI housing' started in the second quarter of 2008 (-0.3%). Since then, the trend has not been reversed.
This is the moment for those who would like to purchase a house in the beach
The prices have gone down around a 38% along the Mediterranean Coast. Most of this decrease had been cause by the banks. Here there are examples:
Comunidad Valenciana
In Castellon, towns as Peñíscola o Vinaroz, make the most of the geographical conditions, such as the closeness of the sea and the mountain, to sell houses that in some cases were finished years ago. In the tourists cities of Oropesa or Benicasim is very important also the presence of real estate agencies owned by financial institutions.
Second residence in Spain
Those who are looking for a good offer will find a wide variety of them in Valencia Province, from Sagunto to Oliva, and in many cases is even possible to negotiate the price. The most interesting offers are located around the Ribera Baja, and the comarca of La Safor.
Alicante gather the biggest tourist offer. Marina Alta, Jávea and Calpe are the most famous destinations. The city of Benidorm keeps being one of the main references in the region. It is possible to find properties in Cala Finestrat for a price under 122.300 €, or even less, from 120.000 € in Villajoyosa.
With the exception of Marbella, the financial institutions are the main seller in the Andalusian coast. In Almería, it is easy to find one or two bedrooms flats from 54.000 € to 110.000 €, in towns like Vera, Mojácar or Roquetas de Mar. In Almuñécar, in the coast of Granada, there are 90 square meters for only 189.423 €.
Two bedrooms flats from 136.600 € in Nerja. And in Torrox, one bedroom and 95 meters flats, from 168.840 €. The minimum price in Torre del Mar is 114.246 €. Furthermore, real estate agents and banks are competing for the little area of Rincón de la Victoria.
Additionally, there are apartments for less than 134.030 € in Torremolinos, and studios for less than 45.000 € in Fuengirola. On the other hand,in Marbella where the number of properties from banks is minimum, the prices are higher, between 155.540 € and 259.000 €.
The excess of property in this region is smaller than in Valencia or Andalucía, with the exception of Tarragona.
Although Girona and Tarragona concentrate the biggest amount of properties, some seaside towns in Barcelona, such as Castelldefels o Sitges, keep being important points to buy a second residence or even a first one.
The developers, Realia and Vallehermoso, are selling in Sant Feliu de Guíxols, two and three bedrooms flats from 139.000 € and 232.399 €, respectively.
Cambrils, in Tarragona Province, offers the widest number of available properties.
Balearic and Canary Islands
House in Ibiza for 350.000 €
The islands do not scape from the competition between banks and real estates developers. More relevant in Canarias than in Baleares, it is causing a bigger decrease in prices.
In the Balearic Islands, in Ibiza as well as in Mallorca, it is possible to find three bedrooms flats from 262.000 €, apartments for 165.000 € and studios for 42.500 €. In Ciudadela (Menorca) flats for 110.000 €.
In the Canary Islands, there are houses for sell from 63.000 €, and flats from 55.000 €. Moreover, It is possible to find apartments from 37.700 € in Tenerife.
The cost of buying property in the Canaries fell by 9.8 per cent while Balearic Islands prices grow up
According to recent data, demand for Real Estate in Spain's Balearic Islands is growing strong. Many people who choose to buy a property in Spain's Balearic Islands do so because of the aspirational nature of the archipelago.
Despite the Balearic Islands' appeal to overseas buyers, the value of homes in the archipelago - and on the Canary Islands - has fallen during the economic crisis that has hit Spain and other European nations.
The most recent figures published by Tinsa revealed the cost of buying a property in either the Canaries or Balearics fell by 9.8 per cent between March 2012 and the same month a year earlier. However, this is still below the average national decline of 11.5 per cent during the same period.
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The INE said prices declined 15.2 percent in the period July-September from a year earlier after declining 14.4 percent in the previous three months. Prices have now fallen for the past 18 quarters, with the pace of the falls accelerating over the past year. Prices in the third quarter of last year were down 7.4 percent, eased 11.2 percent the following quarter and dropped 12.6 percent in the first quarter of this year.
