The latest data from the Property Registrar’s Association (PRA) in Spain shows that prices increased by 2.65% in the first quarter of 2015. The PRA figures also show an increase in residential home sales of 9.05% year-on-year, to 90,534 transactions.
Drilling down the data reveals that the rise in sales was largely due to strong growth in the resale market, which accounted for 67,864 transactions. The average resale home price rose 1.88% compared to the last quarter of 2014, though they are still some 31% down relative to the pre-crash peak.
“The quarterly figures are the highest in the last eight quarters, showing a clear change of tendency in the market that began in previous quarters,” the PRA report says, while indicating that it is the second-highest quarter for sales in the last three years and the third-highest in the last four years.
Agents are reporting a rise in British interest in Spanish property, led by a favourable sterling-euro exchange rate. Kieran Byrne, managing director of Costa Blanca agent HomeEspaña, says: “Since the start of the year, we’ve seen a definite uplift in British buyers, in particular those moving out here, compared to 2014, and many decide to buy during their first visit here.
“The exchange rate is helping, but there is also a feeling that house prices have bottomed out, as revealed by recent statistics from both TINSA and Spain’s Registrars that show prices have risen in coastal areas and larger cities since the start of the year.”
