Tag: province

Fotocasa: House Prices in Ibiza Cost 38% More Now Than in 2008

25 April 2019 – El Confidencial

Together with Madrid and Barcelona, the real estate market in the Balearic Islands has led the real estate recovery in recent years. Boosted by its geographical limitations (land for the construction of new homes is finite), the boom in tourist rents and the huge push from foreign demand (foreigners account for 30% of transactions), house prices have soared over the last four years to return to the levels of the bubble, and, in some cases, even higher.

Specifically, house prices in both Ibiza and Calvià are now higher than their historical peaks at the height of the previous cycle (up by 38% and 1.6%, respectively, compared to February 2008). That is according to data published by Fotocasa relating to second-hand homes, which reveals that the number of building permits being granted in the two municipalities has also returned to pre-crisis levels.

In fact, Ibiza is one of the most expensive cities in Spain for buying a home, after San Sebastián and Sant Cugat del Vallès, according to Engel & Völkers. Much of the rise in house prices on the island is due to the strong rise in demand, especially from overseas buyers, with Germans leading the ranking by nationality.

According to the College of Registrars, the Balearic Islands is the second most active autonomous region in Spain in terms of house sales with 13.41 sales per 1,000 inhabitants, outperformed only by the Community of Valencia with 15.88 and ahead of the Community of Madrid with 11.63. Moreover, it is the eighth most active province by absolute number of transactions.

Original story: El Confidencial (by E. Sanz)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

CBRE: Logistics Investment in Valencia Soared by 90% in 2018 to €80M

10 April 2019 – Las Provincias

According to the real estate consultancy CBRE, logistics investment in the province of Valencia rose by 90% YoY in 2018 to €80 million. Nevertheless, it warned that speculative projects have also increased, namely those that are built without a prior contract or guarantee in place for their subsequent sale or rental. Having said that, the market has been readily absorbing the new properties, so far at least, given the rise in demand for logistics warehouses.

According to Javier Muñoz (pictured above, left), Head of Industrial and Logistics at CBRE in Valencia, more high-quality products need to be constructed, given that only 27% of the warehouses in the province currently comply with logistics requirements.

In terms of the type of operations completed last year, the largest deals involved turnkey projects, whilst the number of speculative projects increased. In total 22 transactions of both types were completed in 2018 compared with 10 turnkey projects in 2017. The total stock increased by 24% as a result to reach 2,832,850 m2, and the availability rate at the end of Q1 2019 was 5.9%.

Rental prices continued to rise, with prime rents reaching €4.50/m2/month, in line with those observed in other European cities such as Rome, Amsterdam and Milan. Yields on logistics assets in Valencia currently amount to 6.7% thanks to the strong performance of the sector and interest from large international and smaller local players alike.

Original story: Las Provincias (by Elísabeth Rodríguez)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

Fotocasa: Second-Hand House Prices Rose by 8.4% YoY in March

10 April 2019 – El Confidencial

According to data from the real estate portal Fotocasa, second-hand house prices rose by 8.4% in the year to March 2019, the largest increase since 2007. The average price of a second-hand home now amounts to €1,900/m2, a figure not seen since November 2012.

The data shows that YoY prices recorded 30 months of consecutive increases in March, although a rise of more than 5% has not been seen for 16 months.

The price rises were led by 3 autonomous regions, in particular, which experienced double-digit rises, namely: Madrid (19%), the Balearic Islands (12.5%) and the Canary Islands (11.8%), but prices rose in 16 of the 17 regions. Asturias was the only region to experience a price decrease, of -0.03%.

On average, house prices are still 35.6% below their peak, which was recorded in April 2007 (€2,952/m2).

In terms of average prices, Madrid (€2,976/m2), País Vasco (€2,810/m2) and the Balearic Islands (€2,617/m2) were the most expensive autonomous regions to buy a second-hand home in March. By contrast, Extremadura was the cheapest region (€1,108/m2), followed by Castilla-La Mancha (€1,141/m2), Murcia (€1,164/m2) and La Rioja (€1,402/m2).

By province, 43 of the 50 provinces recorded positive quarterly price variations and seven registered inter-annual price variations of more than 10%, specifically: Madrid (19%), Alicante (15.6%), the Balearic Islands (12.5%), Málaga (12.4%), Las Palmas (12.1%), Santa Cruz de Tenerife (11.4%) and Guadalajara (10.9%).

In Madrid Capital, 18 of the 21 districts saw price increases in March, led by Carabanchel (4%), Vicálvaro and Barajas (both 3.5%). Meanwhile, prices decreased in Chamartín (-3.3%), Latina and Usera (both -0.4%).

Meanwhile, in Barcelona, second-hand house prices rose in 5 of the 10 districts in March, led by Sants – Montjuïc (1.9%), Sarrià – Sant Gervasi (1.4%) and Gràcia (1.2%). The largest QoQ price decrease was recorded in Sant Martí (-1.1%).

Original story: El Confidencial (by E.S.)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

INE: One Third of House Purchases in León in 2018 were Financed by Cash

2 March 2019 – Diario de León 

According to Spain’s National Institute of Statistics (INE), 3,128 homes were sold in the province of León in 2018, of which one in three were paid for in cash. This is a growing trend in the real estate market, as savers look for investment alternatives in the face of instability in the financial markets and the high returns being offered by property, due to house price rises and rental price increases.

In the province of León, 2,024 mortgages were signed in 2018, up by 4% YoY, whereas 11% more house sales were recorded compared to 2017.

Original story: Diario de León (by María J. Muñiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Regional Property Taxes Will Rise in 74 Municipalities in Málaga From 2019

11 September 2018 – Diario Sur

The autonomic coefficients that are applied to cadastral values to adjust them to market prices for the purpose of calculating Property Transfer and Property Succession taxes are going to be updated from 2019.

If you are planning to buy a property next year or if you acquire one as a result of inheritance or a donation, then it is quite likely that you will be hit by an increase in the two autonomic taxes linked to the real estate market (the Property Transfer tax and the Property Succession tax) given that the index that the Junta de Andalucía uses to set the charge is going to increase in 74 of the 103 municipalities in the province of Málaga. With the recovery of the real estate market as the main justification, the multiplying coefficients that are applied to cadastral values to adjust them to market prices (to reflect the performance of the sector) will increase by an average of 12.05% in the Andalucían province with respect to the values in 2017, according to plans compiled by the Ministry of Finance (…).

Málaga province leads the rise

According to the corresponding economic report, Málaga and Almería are the only two provinces where increases are expected to be seen in global terms (of 12.05% and 10.83%, respectively). Many of the other provinces in the autonomous region will be moving in the opposite direction, with decreases expected in Huelva (-13.19%), Granada (-12.41%), Córdoba (-8.32%) and Sevilla (-7.26%) (…).

Original story: Diario Sur (by Francisco Jiménez)

Translation: Carmel Drake

INE: House Sales Soared by 23% in January

15 March 2018 – Expansión

The real estate sector is aiming high in 2018 off the back of the economic recovery. Having surpassed the barrier of half a million homes sold in 2017 and whereby made a return to pre-crisis levels, in January, house sales soared by 23% YoY, to reach 47,289 units. It is the best data for a decade, since May 2008, according to the latest data published by INE. That, combined with the 4.5% recovery in prices in February, as estimated by Tinsa’s price index, indicates that the time is ripe for consolidation in the sector. “The consolidation of credit, the improvement in the economic context and the strong outlook for the sector and the economy, in general, explain this reactivation in demand for housing”, explains the Head of Research at Fotocasa, Beatriz Toribio. With respect to December, sales in January soared by 46.8%.

Forecasts for the real estate sector point to increases of 5% in terms of prices and 10% in terms of sales, in line with the forecast evolution of the Spanish economy. Even so, the number of operations recorded is still well below the more than 100,000 homes sold per month in the years prior to 2008, when the real estate bubble burst. Prices have also continued to recover, and whilst in the centre of some cities, they have now recouped their losses, there are still many areas of the country where house prices today are 65% lower than they were in 2007.

On the one hand, the large capitals and coastal areas are leading the increases in prices, boosted by interest from investors, the tourist boom and a shortage of stock and of new homes. In fact, the overheating of prices in many areas is leading to a displacement of demand towards less central areas of those cities.

In terms of sales, the 23% increase is backed by double-digit growth in 13 autonomous regions. Asturias, the Community of Valencia and Murcia lead the rises, with increases of 56%, 40% and 39%, respectively. Nevertheless, only Valencia remained in the top 3 in absolute terms. That community was, after Andalucía, the one where most house sales were recorded in January (7,409 units). Andalucía was the area where most homes were sold, 8,988 units, up by 31% compared to January 2017. The third region on the podium was Cataluña, which recorded 7,334 sales, although at a rate that was well below the average, of 8%. In this regard, Toribio said that although “the political situation may have slowed down activity in the Catalan real estate market, it has not paralysed it completely”.

Meanwhile, in Madrid, 6,526 homes were sold, up by 14%. Together with Cataluña, La Rioja, Aragón and Extremadura recorded the lowest increases in transaction numbers, up by 8%, 5% and 1%, respectively. The geographical differences expand further as you zoom out of the photo. By province, Álava grew by the most (56.5%) and several provinces saw their sales figures fall. Specifically, in Ciudad Real sales decreased by -19.4%, in Zamora by -10.3% and in Badajoz by -7.4%.

The composition of that growth was also uneven by segment, with a clear predominance in terms of second-hand housing. Of the total number of transactions, just 8,272 were new homes, compared to 42,745 second-hand properties, in other words, 17.5% of the assets sold were new and 82.5% were second-hand. Nevertheless, both segments are evolving in parallel, with growth of 23.5% for new homes and of 23% in the case of second-hand dwellings.

Original story: Expansión (by I. Benedito)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Junta de Andalucía Sells 45,000 m2 of Land in Jaén for €3.8M

8 January 2018 – La Vanguardia

The four offers that were submitted relating to the sale of the properties owned by the Junta de Andalucía, which the Ministry of Development and Housing convened in 2017 through the Agency for Housing and Rehabilitation in Andalucía (AVRA), have allowed it to award plots with a total surface area of 45,780 m2 for a value of €3.89 million in the province of Jaén.

The Minister for Development and Housing, Felipe López, stressed that most of the public land that has been sold in the province has been assigned for industrial use. “This is allowing us to contribute to boosting the economy and to creating jobs in the towns in which the plots are located, through the companies that are opening facilities on those plots”, he said on Monday in a statement.

He underlined the importance of this initiative, promoted by the Junta, with the aim of placing public assets at the disposal of the business community to boost the development of new projects and business initiatives that foster economic activity and employment.

The industrial plots sold in the province of Jaén during 2017 are mainly located in the towns of Alcalá la Real, whose Los Llanos del Mazuelo industrial estate recorded a significant increase in activity last year, and Martos, on the Cañada de la Fuente industrial estate.

Plots were also disposed of in the ZI-2 production area of Torredonjimeno, on the industrial estate on the Carretera de Los Arquillos, in Villacarrillo; in Los Rubiales (Linares) and on the Los Retiros industrial estate, in Huelma.

Moreover, other premises, parking spaces and storerooms were awarded in several towns in the province of Jaén, including in Andújar, Cazorla and Jaén, which generated revenues amounting to €385,061.

Most of the plots of land sold were owned by the Agency for Housing and Rehabilitation in Andalucía, which, according to López took the decision to make land sales one of its strategic lines at the beginning of this legislature, after that activity had slowed down in previous years, during the toughest period of the crisis.

By contrast, some of the awarded plots belonged to the Junta de Andalucía, which engaged AVRA to manage its assets.

The Board said that the decision to recover this activity was taken in light of the fact that the markets are starting to show signs of recovery in terms of real estate activity and “with the aim of obtaining revenues to allow us to resume other activities pertinent to the Agency, such as the promotion of social housing for families with housing needs and scarce or no possibilities of accessing a home in the private rental market” (…).

The land sale activity resumed by AVRA at the beginning of this legislature has permitted the award of almost 300,000 m2 of land allocated to different uses for a total amount of €50.7 million over the last 3 years (…).

Original story: La Vanguardia

Translation: Carmel Drake

BBVA Research: House Sales Will Exceed 550,000 in 2018

9 January 2018 – El Periódico

BBVA Research predicts that house prices will rise by 5% during 2018.

The real estate sector was responsible for more than 11.2% of the growth of the Spanish economy during the first three quarters of 2017. And the strong end to 2017, despite rising uncertainty in the final part of the year, will make way for a 2018 in which the economy will grow once again, supported by both domestic and overseas demand, according to the findings of the report “Real Estate Situation in Spain”, published by BBVA Research.

Although the rate of growth will be more moderate in 2018, forecasts indicate that around 550,000 house sale operations will be closed, which will drive the growth in house prices to around 5% and will increase the granting of building permits to around 92,000. Moreover, increasingly more autonomous regions will show a normalised real estate market, having overcome the crisis.

The scarce data (to be released so far) relating to the final quarter of 2017 indicates a moderation in the growth rate. During the middle two quarters of 2017, house sales maintained their growth rates, which favoured the increase in prices and the launch of new projects. With the official data for the final quarter yet to be published, this report indicates that the balance for the sector during 2017 as a whole was positive, thanks to the strong foundations, which are still having an effect.

Between January and October 2017, 432,500 homes were sold, up by 16.4% compared to the same period in 2016. That figure was made possible by the strong performance of the mortgage market: the volume of new loans to buy homes grew by 16.4% YoY during the first 11 months of the year, and the granting of mortgages increased by 14.7% between the months of January and October. All of this, in a context in which financing costs are at minimum levels, with mortgage interest rates of around 2.2%. The increase in demand favoured construction activity and between January and October, 28.0% more permits were signed, taking the total to 60,695. In this way, house prices rose again during the third quarter, following a moderation in Q2 (by 2.7% according to the Ministry of Development and by 6.6% according to INE).

The Catalan uncertainty

The uncertainty resulting from the political events in Cataluña will influence the evolution of the market. It already forced the moderation of the growth forecasts for the sector as a whole in 2017 and has determined the projections for 2018. Although most of the data from the last quarter has not been published yet, the figures that have been released indicate a certain deceleration, such as house sales in October, which grew by less than expected.

Between the months of June and September, house sales in Spain remained at relatively high levels. The data reveals that house sales amounted to around 45,000 transactions per month, according to data from the Notaries’ Centre for Statistical Information (CIEN). Meanwhile, during the month of October, house sales decreased by 9.3%, the greatest decrease recorded in recent months and that may be related to the increase in uncertainty.

Resident buyers

Alicante, Málaga, Valencia, Madrid and Tarragona are the five provinces that attracted the most resident buyers from other provinces between January and September. Nevertheless, when we compare the total number of homes sold in each province, we see that those where second residences have the highest market share are those that are closest to large cities. Such is the case of Ávila, Segovia and Toledo, provinces close to Madrid where around 35% of homes sold in each one are acquired by residents from other provinces. The same thing happens in Cantabria, close to Bilbao and its surrounding area, and in Tarragona, close to Barcelona.

Original story: El Periódico (by Max Jiménez Botías)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Idealista: Second-Hand House Prices Rose by 2.4% in 2017

27 December 2017 – El País

Despite the Catalan crisis, this year, Barcelona has managed to dislodge San Sebastián from the top of the ranking as the most expensive capital city in Spain.

During 2017, buying a second-hand home has become 2.4% more expensive. Owners have paid an average price of €1,586/m2 in 2017, compared to €1,553/m2 in 2016, according to the latest price index from the real estate portal Idealista.

Nevertheless, not all of the markets have behaved in the same way; some have grown at double-digit rates, whilst others have expanded at more moderate rates, and others have seen price continue to decrease, still not reaching rock bottom.

Thirty of the provincial capital cities have seen price rises, although the most marked increase was recorded in Palma de Mallorca, with a rise of 29.1%, taking the average second-hand house price there to €2,667/m2. It was followed by the city of Málaga, where prices have risen by 16.7% to €1,934/m2. By contrast, Soria is the capital where prices have fallen by the most (-8.3%), followed by Ávila (-6.9%) and Almería (-5.1%).

Despite the Catalan crisis, which “will affect the final result for the year”, according to Fernando Encinar, Head of Research at Idealista, this year, Barcelona has managed to dislodge San Sebastián from the top of the ranking as the most expensive Spanish capital, at €4,284/m2, compared to €4,052/m2 in the Guipuzcoan capital. Those two cities are followed by Madrid (€3,285/m2) and Bilbao (€2,871/m2).

By autonomous region, the largest increase was recorded in the Balearic Islands, where owners are now asking 25.3% more for their homes than they were a year ago. It is followed by increases in Cataluña (9.5%), the Canary Islands (8.4%), the Community of Madrid (7.1%), Aragón (2.3%), the Community of Valencia (1.9%), Andalucía (0.8%) and País Vasco (+0.5%). At the other end of the spectrum, the largest decreases were recorded in Navarra (-4.8%), Asturias (-3.2%) and Castilla La Mancha (-2.4%).

The Community of Madrid is the most expensive autonomous region, at €2,544/m2, followed by País Vasco (€2,519/m2), the Balearic Islands (€2,472/m2) and Cataluña (€2,082/m2), whilst the regions with the most affordable prices are Castilla-La Mancha (€897/m2), Extremadura (€932/m2) and Murcia (€1,019/m2). The provinces with the most expensive homes are Guipúzcoa and Vizcaya, at €2,760/m2 and €2,591/m2, respectively. They are followed by Madrid (€2,544) and Barcelona (€2,544/m2). Toledo is the most affordable province (€770/m2), followed by Avila (€801/m2) and Ciudad Real (€840/m2).

Original story: El País (by S. L. L.)

Translation: Carmel Drake

INE: House Sale Growth Slows Down In Cataluña

14 November 2017 – Expansión

The negative consequences of the crisis caused by the “independentistas” extends to every sector of the economy. And one of the most affected is the real estate sector, as the data published on Monday by Spain’s National Institute of Statistics (INE) shows. Cataluña was the third autonomous region where house sales grew by the least during the month of September, with a YoY increase of 2.1%, equivalent to 6,146 operations.

With that percentage, Cataluña fell well below the average YoY growth rate for Spain as a whole, which amounted to 11% in September. That increase – below the rate recorded in August, of 16% – was driven by Castilla-La Mancha (47%), Murcia (27%) and Extremadura (24.2%), which experienced the highest rises. Unlike Cataluña, the other economically powerful regions, such as Madrid (11.4%), Valencia (13.2%) and País Vasco (13.3%), were above the national average.

This data partially reflects the impact of the events that took place in September, with the approval by the Parlament of the so-called disconnection laws. But given that most operations are negotiated several weeks in advance, Manuel Gandarias, CEO of Civislend, indicates that the deceleration was due primarily to “expectations” – many people postponed their purchases as a precaution, in case the situation deteriorated, which is what ended up happening.

This explains why Cataluña has gone from being one of the drivers of house sales in Spain to bringing up the rear of the ranking. In this way, in May, the region came in above the national average, with an increase of more than 30%. In June and July, the first signs of the deterioration could be seen, when the rate stood at around 17%, broadly in line with the rest of the country. But in August, it decreased below the national average (7.4% vs. 16%), and that decrease was further strengthened by the data published yesterday. In absolute terms, it means 6,720 operations were recorded in August, 7,020 in July and 7,039 in June; in contrast with 6,146 in September (…).

The growth recorded in Cataluña during the month of September was distributed unequally by province (…). The worst hit was Girona, which saw house sales decrease by -2.9% in September. Barcelona and Tarragona saw very limited rates of growth, with 1.9% and 4%, respectively, whilst the best figures were seen in Lleida, with a rise in house sales of 16.3% (…).

The negative trend indicated by this data will probably be made worse when the indicators relating to the next few months are revealed, as they will reflect the impact of the events that took place after the illegal referendum on 1 October. According to José Antonio Pérez, Professor of the Real Estate Department at IPE, the greatest effect is being felt “in investments from overseas”, which have reacted in the face of the legal uncertainty. Gandarias said that the situation will also have its impact on operations involving families, given that those who have decided to buy a home “will probably wait now until after the (regional) elections”.

The “independentista” crisis is also affecting property prices. According to a report published last week by Fotocasa, the price of housing in Cataluña slowed down its rate of growth from 10.6% in September to 6.1% in October.

Original story: Expansión (by Ignacio Bolea)

Translation: Carmel Drake