ST: New House Prices Rose By 3.7% YoY In June

3 July 2017 – Expansión

The average price of new homes in Spain’s provincial capitals amounted to €2,156/m2 in June, up by 3.7% compared to the same month last year, which represents the highest increase since 2007, according to the latest report from Sociedad de Tasación.

During the first six months of this year, the rise amounted to 1.7%.

With this average price, a typical home measuring 90 m2 costs around €194,000.

In the other cities included in the report (those that are not provincial capitals), the average price amounted to €1,560/m2, which represents an increase of 0.3% since the end of 2016.

If we analyse house prices on the basis of the population of each city, new home prices rose by 1.2% YoY in cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants that are not provincial capitals.

The rise amounted to 1% in cities with between 50,000 and 100,000 inhabitants; 1.3% in cities/towns with between 25,000 and 50,000 inhabitants; and 0.3% in cities/towns with fewer than 25,000 inhabitants.

According to Sociedad de Tasación, this data shows that the heterogeneity in the market is continuing, as the sector is still developing “at two speeds”.

Barcelona is the most expensive provincial capital, with an average price of €3,631/m2, followed by San Sebastián (€3,353/m2) and Madrid (€3,306/m2).

In the provincial capitals with the highest tourist influx, rental prices are rising at a double-digit pace.

Sociedad de Tasación reiterated its warning about the possibility of that trend having an impact over the medium and long term and generating an increase in the prices of homes and land, as well as in the number of operations.

Sociedad de Tasación’s Real Estate Confidence Index continued its upwards trend, with a rise of 2.1 points during the first half of the year, to 56.6 points.

The index also continued above its neutral position, which is 50 points.

The Real Estate Effort Index, which measures the number of years of full salary that it takes an average citizen to buy a home, increased slightly with respect to the previous quarter to amount to 7.5 years.

Nevertheless, the figure was one tenth lower than the level recorded in June 2016 (7.6 years).

Original story: Expansión

Translation: Carmel Drake