House prices rises slow down

3 December 2003

MADRID – The rise in the cost of property in Spain has slowed down, according to a report Wednesday.

The Ministry of Public Works said prices had risen by 3.4 percent in the past three months, compared with 3.9 percent in the same period the year before.

The annual figures also showed a slow down with prices rising this year by an average of 15.6 percent, compared with 17.5 percent in 2002.

The average price per square metre in Spain between July and September this year was EUR 1,450.

The report from the ministry also compared different regions.

But the highest rises in house prices were in Madrid (22.7 percent) compared to last year. The average price per sq metre in the capital was EUR 2,484.

After Madrid, the biggest rise in the cost of property in Spain was in Catalonia, where prices rose by 17.1 percent. The average price per sq metre in the region was EUR 1,866.

In the Basque Country, prices rose by 14.6 percent during the third quarter and 20.8 percent compared to 2002. The average price per square metre was more expensive than in Catalonia at EUR 2,173.

Housing in Spain’s major cities was predictably more expensive than in other parts of the country.

But the report said of the main cities, Valencia had the lowest price per square metre (EUR 1,250).

The cheapest housing was in Spain’s poorest region, Extremadura, near the border with Portugal. There prices only rose by 9.4 percent compared with the previous year and the average cost per square metre was EUR 624.

On surprise was that though the prices per square metre in Castilla-La Mancha were EUR 810 per sq metre, the average in prices shot up by 16 percent.

The Housing Price Index report of the Ministry of Public Works was based on information from 200,000 homes across Spain.

[Copyright EFE with Expatica]

Subject: Spanish news