Spanish property prices cool in 2006

The average property price in Spain for 2006 fell to €246,279, according to the Kyero.com 2006 Spanish Property Review. This is a 1.7% decline compared to the national average price in 2005 of €250,589. In general, average prices seem to have remained steady indicating that the market has remained stable.

Most expensive – cheapest provinces in which to buy property 2005 and 2006:

The 2 most expensive provinces of 2006 are in keeping with 2005, being Madrid and Barcelona and the Balearic Islands of Mallorca, Menorca and Ibiza retain their position at the top.

The most popular provinces of Malaga, Alicante and Granada both fall slightly yet still stand mid table. The cheapest province in 2005, Jaen has been replaced by Cuenca at €65,333.

Popularity of Spanish provinces 2006:

Interestingly, Granada has beaten the traditionally popular provinces of Alicante (Costa Blanca) and Malaga (Costa del Sol) into the top slot as most popular province of 2006. Average property prices in Granada are around 36% cheaper than the national

Average (€157,608 compared with a national average of €246,279) and this combined with the influx of budget flights from the UK to Granada airport may have attracted more buyers.

Next most requested provinces are Tarragona in Catalonia, then Murcia, Almeria and Valencia on the eastern coast. There is a lot of new build and property development being undertaken in these areas and cheap airlines are introducing flights to local airports, making these parts of Spain easily accessible for Britons (Reus airport for Tarragona, and to Murica airport, Valencia airport and Almeria airport).

Interestingly Barcelona is one of the least requested provinces; maybe the high price tag averaging at €578,458 may have put off potential buyers?

Average property price in 2006 for the 3 most requested provinces:

The province of Granada has seen steady price increases in the last half of 2006 (Aug – Dec) rising 10% from €155,000 to €165,000. In contrast Malaga province experienced a decrease of over €26,000 at the end of the year, an 8% decrease from November to December 2006. Alicante on the Costa Blanca saw prices drop from Jan – Jul 2006 reaching a low of €214,000 in July however in the remainder of the year prices rose steadily to €236,900 in December 2006. When compared together the 3 provinces show a relatively stable property price across 2006 with Malaga retaining its position as the most expensive of the 3 followed by Alicante and then Granada.

Most popular property type requested on average:

The most popular property type sought is the villa; this is closely followed by apartments and townhouses. Interestingly although the most sought after property type is the villa, the average budget of most buyers (41%) is €50,000 - €150,000. The average villa property has 3 bedrooms and costs €450,000 which is 3 times the maximum average budget.