European property prices have on average experienced their first decline in over a decade. The price of housing in the UK for example has fallen at its highest rate in 14 years. In Germany, property prices have registered their greatest year-on-year decrease since 2000. The Austrian home market is also undergoing a big drop, property prices in Denmark are down by 7.6 percent as well, and in Sweden they’ve reduced by 6.8 percent. The price of housing in neighboring European nations decreased by 1.7 percent year over year in the second quarter of 2023, according to Eurostat data that was quoted in the Spanish press. However, Spain defied this trend, with a 3.7 percent increase in housing prices in the latest quarter, and 5.5% versus the last year.
In Spain, the first half of the year saw a rise in property prices of over 6%, and the market has seen rises of over 3% for nine quarters running. However, real estate analysts have identified a bit of a contradiction in the Spanish market: these steady price increases coincide with a general decline in sales volume. Various explanations have been put forward, amongst them is the strong demographics of retirees selling their northern European properties in order to buy in Spain, and particularly in Andalucia and the coastal regions. This is supported by data from the statistics office of Spain (INE.es) which shows that many of the purchases are increasingly made by foreigners and using cash (mortgage applications are trending downwards).
The weather, lifestyle, and social balance of Spain seems to be continually attracting buyers, regardless of economic and political factors.
