Approval of Spanish mortgages rose at fastest rate ever in 2015

The growth of mortgage approvals between last year and the year that preceded it is the fastest ever recorded for Spain.

The number of mortgage approvals recorded in Spain in 2015 was up 19.8% on the number recorded a year prior – the largest year-on-year increase since records began in 2003.

This data, released last week by the National Statistics Institute (INE) is perhaps the strongest indication yet that the Spanish property market has well and truly recovered from a near decade-long slump…

Since 2008 and the bite of the first recession, millions of Spaniards have experienced unemployment, falling wages and a distinct lack of prospects and security in their home country. But after exiting recession midway through 2013, the Spanish economy has been performing strongly, growing 3.2% in 2015 to become one of the best-performing economies in the EU.

Property prices during that period have fallen by an average of 40%, and have only recently begun to rise as interest rates have remained low, job security has returned and banks have sought to offload many of the properties they were forced to purchase during the downturn. 

The INE data found that the total capital borrowed as mortgages across Spain in 2015 reached €25.9 billion, which is an increase of 24.1% on 2014 and the biggest increase since 2005.

The record high for mortgages in a single year remains 2006, prior to the crash, when Spanish banks lent an incredible €188.3 billion.

The trend is only going to strengthen, too, if December’s statistics are anything to go by: home loans for the final month of 2015 rose 21.1%, marking the 19^th straight month of growth.