Spanish mortgage activity surged 10% in September

The Spanish property market has enjoyed a stunning recovery, and the stats bear this out.

Further good news was bestowed upon Spain’s property market last week following the publication of official data that showed the number of mortgages approved in September had risen by 10% in the space of a year.

According to the National Statistics Institute (INE), there were 26,667 mortgages approved in September this year, which offers yet more concrete proof that the Spanish property market has recovered from its post-credit crunch wobbles…

This data continues the positive trend that has shaped the industry for more than 18 months, and also confirms that property prices are still steadily on the rise, along with consumer and – vitally – banking confidence.

The INE data shows that the average loan capital for September rose 2.2% to €113,193, which is the highest level for more than five years. Further, across all of Spain’s 17 autonomous communities there was positivity, with the Canary Islands recording a massive 45.2% increase in approvals compared to last year.

It was a similar story in other strong property markets such as Andalucía, Catalunya and Madrid, where demand for housing is being driven by a strong combination of both domestic and foreign buyers.

If the past 12 months are analysed, September’s mortgage approvals brought the total number given the green light in the past year to 270,000, which is a 13.1% increase on the previous 12 months, while for the nine months of the year to September 30 that figure was 212,587 mortgage approvals – a growth of 12.6% on the same period in 2015.