PROPERTY prices in Spain have increased by 8.1% year-on-year, latest figures show.
The surge came in the third quarter of this year. It is the highest year-on-year increase since the first quarter of 2022, when prices rose by 8.5%.
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According to the data published by the National Institute of Statistics (INE), the boost in prices is mostly due to second-hand homes, which rose by 7.9%, the highest increase since the second quarter of 2022.
The price of second-hand housing has been growing year-on-year since 2014.
Meanwhile, the price of new housing increased by 9.8% year-on-year, but its increase is levelling out.
Navarra, Andalucia and Aragon are the regions where prices have risen the most in the last quarter.
In Andalucia, Malaga and the Costa del Sol are continuing to see huge gains in the luxury market – particularly in Marbella and Benahavis.
Experts said the fall in the Euribor – which closed November at 2.5%, its lowest level in the last 25 months – is leading to a greater demand for mortgages.
This increase, together with a stagnation in supply, population growth and a boost in foreign investor demand is causing an ‘imbalance’ that is increasingly straining prices.
Housing expert Alejandro Inurrieta told SER: “A large part of the increase is of a speculative nature.
“People are not buying houses to live in, but rather to obtain profitability. The arrival of foreign capital is penetrating middle and low income districts and straining prices.”