Spanish property market flourishes with 6.2% price rise in coastal properties

According to recent data compiled from notary databases, Spanish property prices are maintaining gradual increases from quarter to quarter and coastal areas are driving and solidifying the recovery of the country's once ailing property market.

Properties along the Mediterranean in areas such as the Costa del Sol, Costa Brava and Costa Blanca have registered a price increase of 6.2% in the past 12 months, further fuelling Spain's recent surge in property sales. Foreign investors account for roughly half of all coastal property sales transactions, the majority of which involved re-sale or second-hand homes, though the latest data also shows rises of 8.4% in new-build property - the sharpest increase reported since 2007.

The appreciation in property value is reported to have been most pronounced in Las Palmas (6.7%), the Balearics (5.7%) and Malaga (5.5%). Taking into consideration population density, property sales are the highest in the region of Malaga, third only to Barcelona and Madrid, despite having a fraction of the total population.

Across the country, Spanish property sales rose by almost 25 per cent in the second quarter of this year, in comparison to the same quarter of 2015. While average property prices in Spain according to Tinsa are still 42% below peak levels pre-2007, average housing prices are 3.9% higher in the second quarter of this year than in the equivalent period in 2015. The year-on-year comparison has shown increases for eight quarters in a row and price rises have also now been registered in all 17 Spanish autonomous regions, with an overall average of 3.9%.