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Spanish Property News Round-Up

Unoccupied New Properties

A report published at the end of 2016 showed that there are about 340,000 unoccupied new properties in Spain. This represents approximately 21/3% of all properties completed since 2008 following the end of the property market bubble. The provinces with the highest percentage of unoccupied new properties are Cuenca, Castellon while the provinces with the lowest number wee the Basque Country and Bilbao.

New Builds

The same report included statistics for new residential properties currently under construction in Spain. There is a rise in the number of new builds particularly in Madrid, Alicante and in Barcelona where there are currently 4,500 properties under construction.

Luxury Home Sales in Spain

The number of luxury homes sold in Spain over the course of 2016 was much higher than in previous years. The most aught after areas were Eixample in Barcelona and Madrid’s Chamberi area. The Catalan capital is expected to continue to be one of the leading locations for property sales in 2017. Low cost funding, a growing economy and reasonable property prices will continue to draw in buyers. Predictions are that despite Brexit Brits will continue to be the largest group of foreign buyers while new buyers in the Spain’s market are coming from the US and Middle East.

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Read about this Bellaterra home in the previous post. 

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Effects of Brexit and Current House Prices in Spain

The Spanish Property Registry reported a 20% increase in the number of homes registered as sold in August as compared to the same period 12 months ago. This positive statistic indicates that the market recovery continues after having a brief shock when the British public votes to exit the European Union. Many transactions in the Spanish property market were put on hold temporarily as buyers and sellers waited to see the result of the Brexit referendum. And so one the outcome was known sales that may have been on pause were completed thus shooting the statistics up. This gives a distorted picture to the number of house sales in Spain for August.

August House Sale Figures and Foreign Buyers

We must remember that not all transactions involved foreign buyers or sellers so that the statistic does in some way give an accurate reflection of the Spanish property market. Taking a look at the regional figures can give a more accurate picture as it is possible to isolate regions where foreign buyers tend to purchase property. For example foreign buyers tend to favor the Balearic, Almeria and Barcelona. All three of these regions showed significant increases in the number of house sales registered in August on a year-on-year analysis. Barcelona sales were up 25% in August with transactions being made by buyers from around the world, not just the UK.

In conclusion the decision by Britain to exit the EU has caused a slight impact on the Spanish property market but sales continue to grow.

More signs of Brexit’s Impact on the Spanish Property Market

The Director General of Registries and Notaries in Spain recently announced that Power of Attorney witnesses by British Notaries will no longer be valid in Spain. The DGRN is part of the Spanish Ministry of Justice. The explanation for this decision was given that British notaries do not have the same function as Spanish notaries. The difficulty for British property owners or purchases in Spain will be having to employ the services of a Spanish notary although British lawyer notaries may be acceptable.

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Property Prices in Barcelona

Barcelona Property Market on the Rise

The Barcelona property market is continuing to make a recovery as prices start to rise steadily. The residential property market in Barcelona areas like Sant Cugat, Sant Just Desvern and Esplugues is gathering momentum according to the latest market analysis reported by the Forcadell Group. The increasing demand for Barcelona homes is coming from both Spanish nationals and foreign buyers.

The improvement in the market is in second hand properties as well as new properties and there are even signs of new building projects. There is an increase in the demand for new properties and the prices for all types of Barcelona homes are rising. The cause of the improved market can be attributed to the gradual recovery of the Spanish economy, the easily available credit in Spain, the rate of the Euro and the fall in unemployment. 

Private investors and large investment funds are equally interested in the prime locations in Barcelona. The future looks bright for buyers and sellers of Barcelona homes. Sellers can benefit from the rising prices and sellers can benefit from the increased demand for Barcelona homes. Together with purchase prices the rental prices are expected to increase. After the property market crash of 2007 and seven years of decline the tables are finally turning and the statistics are showing an upward swing in the number of transactions, demand and property prices.

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