Six fold increases in 20 years

In recent weeks the newspaper El Pais in Spain published figures released by the appraisers group, Sociedad de Tasacón, reporting that prices of Spanish property prices have rised a staggering amount in the past 20 years.

Even with the price increases over the years, the government are still confident that it will not affect on the property market. Jose Luis Esteves-Guillmain, the chairman of the appraisers group, estimates that house prices should rise by approximately 8% this year, confirming a slow-down in the market. "Since 2003, the increases have been decelerating continuously. What's more, prices in cheaper areas have been rising more, while they have moderated in the most expensive capitals." He estimated that house prices would continue to slow over the next three to four years, until they approach the inflation rate, which last year was 3.8%.

Barcelona has become the most expensive city to live in, average price per sqm is 3,700 euros, fractionally above Madrid, where the cost is 3,629 euros and San Sebastian priced at 3,585 euros per sqm. The cheapest of the provincial capitals were Badajoz and Lugo, where the price per sqm hasn´t exceeded 1,300 euros.
The largest recorded increases were in Lleida, Valencia and Coruna at 16-17%. The smallest were in Pamplor and San Sebastian at 6.5 and 6.8% respectively.
The Sociadad de Tasación estimated that 700,000 building projects commenced last year and supply is expected to remain strong this year, although less so in the centre of cities, land shortages leading to high costs.