ARCHIVED - Property price recovery in Spain slowed by the pandemic
The 1.7 per cent increase in the last 12 months is the least significant since the recovery began
It goes almost without saying that the coronavirus pandemic has had a significant effect on the property market in Spain, but while sales figures have plummeted as a consequence of the restrictions imposed on movement and of the sharp increase in unemployment, the latest data published on Thursday by the government’s central statistics unit suggest that the effect on market prices has not been as drastic, at least for the time being.
According to the report made public this week, at the end of the third quarter of 2020 the nationwide housing price index was 1.7 per cent higher than a year previously, timidly continuing an upward trend which began in 2014. On the other hand, it is noticeable that this is the least significant upward movement since the recovery began, and it is hard to avoid attributing the slowdown at least in part to the pandemic.
This may also be reflected in the fact that during the third quarter, when Covid protocols were relaxed, the index rose by 1.1 per cent, whilst during the previous three months, which coincided with the lockdown restrictions of the first wave of the pandemic, the increase was just 0.1 per cent.
As ever, it has to be pointed out that there is considerable variation among the trends reported in the 17 regions of Spain, and on this occasion the year-on-year rise in the housing price index is most noticeable in the Balearics (3.4 per cent) and the Region of Murcia (3 per cent). At the other end of the scale are the regions of Madrid, La Rioja and Andalucía, with increases of 1.2 per cent, and Extremadura, where the index remains unchanged from a year ago.