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Tinsa: Madrid & Barcelona Lead Housing Market Recovery

1 July 2015 – Expansión

Tinsa’s IMIE Local Markets report says that Cataluña (with an increase of 1.3%) and Madrid (+0.6%) were the only regions that recorded house price increases during the second quarter 2015 with respect to the same period in 2014.

However, the speed of recovery is very different by region. In Navarra, Cantabria, Asturias, Valencia and Extremadura, YoY declines of more than 5% have been recorded, whilst in others, prices have also increased: Galicia and Castilla-La Mancha (by +0.6%, respectively) and País Vasco (+0.3%).

These figures have left Spain’s average price index in negative territory. It recorded a decrease of 2.9%, although that represented a slow down from the decline of 4.5% that the market ended the year (2014) with.

By province

There were YoY increases in six provinces, namely: Barcelona (+3.4%), Cuenca (+1.2%), Tarragona (+0.8%), Madrid (+0.6%), León (+0.4%) and Huesca (+0.3%). “With the exception of Barcelona and Madrid, where the evolution of prices in recent quarters seems to underpin the trend, we will have to wait and see whether this trend is consolidated in the other provinces”, says Tinsa in its report.

Meanwhile, there were decreases of more than 5% in 15 provinces. “If we analyse the behaviour of prices over the last four quarters, the province of Barcelona is the market that is displaying the clearest signs of recovery”, says the report. Madrid, Vizcaya, Girona and Toledo are the next best performing provinces in this ranking.

By capital

If we analyse data by capital city, we see that increases have been recorded in seven capitals. From highest to lowest, these were: Huesca (+5.2%), Barcelona (+4.9%), Málaga (+2.6%), Madrid (+2.5%), Guadalajara (+2.4%), Palma de Mallorca (+0.9%) and León (+0.4%). Meanwhile, prices in the cities of Burgos and León remained stable.

Decreases of more than 10% were recorded in four provincial capital cities (Córdoba, Almería, Oviedo and Ávila) in YoY terms and the reductions exceeded 5% in eleven capital cities during the last year.

Effort

Another interesting finding from the report is the level of gross financial effort required for the acquisition of a home, which has reduced between buyers since 2007. Specifically, it has decreased from representing 33% of annual income to 23%.

“If instead of taking into account the payment of the average mortgage, the calculation is performed on the market value of the home, according to Tinsa’s data, then buyers that have to make the greatest effort to buy a home are those in the Balearic Islands, where a borrower needs 12.2 years on average to pay off his property, versus the Spanish average of 5.8 years”, explains the document.

Finally, another important indicator is the average time it takes to sell a home in Spain, which currently stands at 10.6 months.

Original story: Expansión (by M. G. Mayo)

Translation: Carmel Drake