Leading experts express confidence in health of property market

The recovering Spanish property market shows all the signs that growth is steady and sustainable.

A recent acceleration in new home starts, an uptick in annual sales and the return to growth had led some sceptics to worry about the potential long-term impact of this trend, despite all the early signs showing that recovery is both steady and sustainable…

And now, some of the leading voices and analysts in the Spanish property industry have spoken of their confidence that the sector is not on course for another bubble. The latest house price data for March shows that property prices have risen anywhere between 1.8% and 4.5% across the country, and it is this regional variation that is giving hope for Spain’s longer term strength.

Real estate expert Mark Stücklin has analysed the data provided by the Tinsa index and deduced that the average asking prices are healthy, with very little sign of overheating.

Only on the Balearics, he added, are the higher price increases – above 4% – a bit of an outlier, and that is because islands have more limited land space, so the premiums are higher.

Elsewhere, Mainland Spain is a more sober market – and the Bank of Spain agrees. The head of the Spanish Developers’ Association, Juan Antonio Gómez-Pintado, said that the recovery is “normal”, with a national average price rise of 3% in February compared to last year. In contrast, such 3% gains would have been considered sluggish over the course of just a month back in 2006-7 – the very peak of the Spanish property boom.

So, a much more stable, secure and – yes – attractive market this time around.