Demand for new Spanish homes rises 32.5% in a year

Spain’s real estate sector is beginning to build in greater volumes once again.

While Spain’s property market remains dominated by resale homes, the new build sector has begun to stir in recent months, with data from the Ministry of Development revealing that, up to and including November last year, the number of building permit requests received was 32.5% higher than for the same period in 2015…

In total, the first 11 months of 2016 saw more than 59,000 building permits granted, which represents the highest 11-month total for more than five years. Compared to three years ago (2014), this figure represents a 72% increase on permits being granted.

For November alone, the figure was 5,934 permits for a new property granted – 25% higher than in 2015 and the highest November figure since 2010.

Altogether, this data suggests that the Spanish housing market is enjoying a balanced recovery, with both the resale sector and the new build sector posting positive figures.

The stable and sustainable growth of the latter sector is particularly encouraging. Prior to the crash of 2008, construction of Spanish property was occurring at breakneck speed, with close to 900,000 new homes granted building permission in 2006 alone.

This pace of development soon proved unfeasible, and it has taken the country more than half a decade to work through its unsold, incomplete or unsellable homes. The situation today is much rosier, with oversupply all but vanished from the country’s more popular property regions such as the Costa del Sol, Costa Brava and the Canary and Balearic Islands.