It’s going to be a busy and positive year for the Spanish property industry according to data and forecasts from professionals working in the real estate sector. Informed predictions are detailing that 2019 will see an increase in house prices, a rise in sales for both new-build and resale properties, and similar growth in the approval of building licenses.
During 2018 the Instituto Nacional de Estadistica (National Institute of Statistics) reported positive findings for all areas of Spanish real estate, a growth of 6.8% in the second quarter of the year, and newly constructed properties rising by 5.7%. Industry reports resoundingly confirmed the strong demand for property located in Spain last year, whilst the country continued to make impressive strides in economic growth since emerging from the global downturn that began a decade ago.
Expectations are that the buoyancy of 2018 is set to continue throughout this new year with certain factors contributing to the bright and confident outlook. Importantly the average price of real estate in Spain is still 36% lower than it was in 2006 just before the financial crisis, intimating that investment in property is still a wise option in this part of Europe.
Statistics from the leading valuation company Tinsa show that property prices in November of last year had risen 5.6% nationwide compared to 2017. The multinational industry association stated that indicators are pointing towards a rise between 5% and 7% in 2019 with sales likely to move up from 500,000 to between 625,000 and 650,000. Tinsa also represented good news for the new-build sector forecasting the number of building licenses expected to be awarded during the next twelve months to reach between 100,000 and 125,000.
Construction company Taylor Wimpey Espana believes that the year will see continuing positivity for the nation’s property market with ongoing high demand from foreign buyers. Figures reported by Spanish public notaries showed that house purchases by non-Spaniards in the first half of last year reached 53,359 properties, a remarkable increase from the 33,000 sales recorded in the same period of 2007.
Taylor Wimpey anticipates that the trend will continue and that certain popular regions in particular, including the Costa del Sol, will persist in attracting buyers from other European countries. Data from the Spanish property market shows that most purchases by foreigners are presently made by British, French, Italian, German, Belgian and Swedish nationals.
Spanish banks have also been happy to report likely prosperity for the industry with BBVA anticipating the 5% growth in annual house prices for 2018, and CiaxaBank reporting a favourable outlook for this year. With the additional beneficial backing from the world of finance, alongside all the other industry indicators, it’s expected to be yet another positive and profitable year for the Spanish real estate market in 2019.
