Spanish building licenses up by over 35%

Following soaring and what proved to be, unsustainable success, before the Spanish property bubble burst in 2008, the construction industry was one of the hardest hit by the devastating economic crash in Spain. As prices fell and demand dried up over the years that followed, developers significantly declined and the construction industry suffered.

This year, building licence requests are up by over 35 per cent. New statistics published by the Ministry of Development show that 3,291 building licenses were requested for new residential properties, an increase of 20.2% from the same month the year before. The figure also maintains the upward trend which has seen year-on-year increases for the last 17 months.

Further, between January and August 2016, the year-to-date total is 42,869 building licenses, which is 35.7% higher than the same period in 2015. The figures provide further evidence that not only is the Spanish property industry experiencing an upsurge in demand and rising house prices, the rise in new developments is also indicative that there is no longer such a surplus of unsold new-builds available in Spain. The recovery and stabilisation of the construction industry in Spain confirms that the time is ripe to once again expand and undertake new building projects across the country.

While at the height of the property boom in 2006, 911,000 building licenses were requested for new homes, nearly 14 times higher than this year, the gradual month on month increases shows an industry entering a period of sustained recovery, and a flourishing Spanish property market that is expanding at a healthy and steady rate.

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