Solid price rise momentum predicted for Spanish property over next four years

Between now and 2020, average property prices in Spain could rise by 5% per year, believe experts.

A statistical analysis of Spain’s property market by Acuña & Asociados forecasts that prices are set to rise steadily through to 2020, reaching an average annual increase of 5% by 2018…

The report, the firm’s 20^th annual assessment of Spanish real estate, remarks that average property prices across the country will be 2.3% higher at the end of the year when compared to the beginning of the year. This trend will continue into 2017, with average values rising steadily towards 5% for 2018, and perhaps even beyond that in 2019 and 2020.

Of course, predicting the Spanish property market four years in advance is a tricky business, but if one looks back to 2014, the trend appears evident. Since Spain exited recession, the country’s property sector has grown steadily, in-step with the economic recovery and strengthening job market.

Property prices in Spain are relatively cyclical, so it follows that the current upward trajectory will be likely to maintain its momentum for at least a few years yet. And given that the recovery has been gradual, there is far less likely to be a bust come 2020; rather, prices may flatline, or the pace of price increases may slow, but growth will remain.

It is hard to say, but the experts at Acuña & Asociados have taken an educated guess and believe that the years up to 2020 will be characterised by far more stability than those in the period between 2008-2012.

This encouraging market development will also spur more investment in new build properties, the analysts believe, with new housing stock in many of the country’s more popular regions almost completely exhausted. In 2016, around 82,000 new properties have been built, but this figure is likely to rise steeply over the coming years.

Also revealed this week were data on October’s property figures from Spain’s Notaries. The latest numbers show that the average sale price per square metre in October was €1,275 – a 1.5% increase on the same month last year. The average loan capital also increased by 0.9% to €125,138, which indicates that mortgage lenders are being much more generous as conditions improve.