Spain house prices: 12.2% rise, growth set to slow
House prices across Spain are 12.2% higher than a year ago, but property portals expect the pace of growth to ease in the months ahead. The National Statistics Institute (INE) published the second-quarter figure on Monday. It is the weakest annual rate since the first quarter of last year, when prices also rose 12.2%.
The cost of open-market homes has now risen year on year for 49 straight quarters — a run lasting just over 12 years.
Ferran Font, research director at property portal pisos.com, said the market remains clearly on an upward track. But after several quarters of sharp increases, he expects growth could briefly slow in areas where the gap between supply and demand is smaller.
María Matos, research director at Fotocasa, also expects prices to rise more cautiously as households' financial capacity plays a greater part. She said access to finance will become more expensive, reducing the buying power of some would-be purchasers.
That could cool the market, she said, but Fotocasa does not expect prices to fall. The portal says the underlying mismatch between housing supply and demand remains severe.
Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com