Housing Prices in Madrid 12.7% Lower Than in Barcelona

18/01/2014 – Expansion

Both Economy and Treasury ministers announce “fresh signs of recovery” on the real estate market. In order to clear the vague meaning up, one must look into the data provided by each district of each city.

In six of them in Barcelona and two in Madrid, the price rise has been reported. But talking about revival could be premature, as in the rest of districts prices still go down. (…)

One of the first conclusions drawn by the research by the IESE Business School in Madrid and the real estate portal Fotocasa.com for Expansión, was that the mean house price in Madrid is €2.773, whereas in Barcelona it is €3.179 (data from December 2013). That means, that buying a dwelling in Madrid is 12.7% cheaper than in Barcelona. In reverse, prices in Barcelona are 14.6% higher than in Madrid.

The phenomenon has got two reasons. Firstly, Barcelona struggles with huge density and at the same time shortage in new construction. The other is that in this city 6 out of 10 districts have already registered price rebound, while in Madrid only two of them out of 21 in whole.

In Barcelona, average price of property in supply increased by 13% in Ciutat Vella, 6.3% in Eixample, 2.1% in Les Corts, 1.8% in Sarrià-Sant Gervasi, 1.2% in Gracia and 0.2% in San Martí.

If it comes to the capital of Spain, the negative numbers have been left behinf in Hortaleza +0,9% and Fuencarral-El Pardo +0,2%. (…).

In general terms, the mean price declined less abruptly in Barcelona (-3,8%) than in Madrid (-6,1%) in 2013, compared to 2012. (…).

One of the most attention-calling cases is the one of Salamanca-Goya-Recoletos, where the price has fallen down by 22.9% since March 2007”, highlights the IESE´s report. “Other areas, such as Retiro and Salamaca-Lista it dipped down by 28.8% and 26.1% respectively”. On the other end, for instance in Puente de Vallecas the drop-off reaches -56.8%.

The most acute depreciations in Barcelona have been noted down in Gótico (-22,5% since February 2007) and Diagonal Mar-Besòs-Maresme (-22,7%). In areas like Roquetes-Guineueta-Verdun they fell by 57,1% while in Trinitat Nova i Vella – Torre Baró and Vallbona -54%.

In Madrid, in quarterly terms, the prices went up between 0.5% and 3% in Lavapiés, Embajadores, Sol, Cibeles, Ventas and Argüelles. (…).

Beatriz Toribio from Fotocasa.com believes that “the price will continue its way downwards in 2014, but the slump will be much less sharp. It is too early to speak of a recovery, however we observe more vivid movements on the labor market and credit granting by banks, indeed”.

 

Original article: Expansión (Juanma Lamet)

Translation: AURA REE

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