Vendors have been forced to slash property prices across the country in order to have any chance of realistically attracting a serious buyer, but with the well documented Spanish property crash showing no sign of abating, prices look set to fall further.
Despite claims from some estate agents and developers in Spain that market conditions are improving, it would seem that they are actually getting worse.
The average price of home in Spain fell by 11.5% in March compared to the corresponding month last year, according to Spain’s most widely-watched annualised House Price Index compiled by Tinsa, a leading property valuation firm. The annualised decline in Spanish property is the highest since the housing crash got underway over four years ago.
Spanish home prices have, on average, now dropped by 28.6% since the crisis started in December 2007 and by 35% along the coast, where the greatest glut of homes are located.
Advisory firm R.R. de Acuna & Asociados recently projected that the average price of a home in Spain will fall by 12%-14% this year – the most since the National Statistics Institute started tracking values in 2007.
Fernando Rodriguez de Acuna Martinez, a partner at the advisory company, said: “There will be more serious price drops this year because of the government decree.” What could happen to prices beyond 2012? With unemployment standing at 23%, which is higher than Greece, and given that Spain is deep in a recession, with greater austerity measures to come, it would appear that prices still have a long way to fall.
Bankinter estimates that housing prices will fall an additional 6% to the end of 2013, but the reality is that the decline is likely to be greater and for longer.









