The price of housing has become more expensive for the third consecutive year. In 2016 it rose by 4.7%, the biggest increase since the bursting of the housing bubble in 2007, when prices increased by 9.8%, according to the National Institute of Statistics (INE) Housing Price Index (IPV) . Since then, the housing market began to devalue to such an extent that only in 2013 the price fell to 13.7%. It was not until 2014 that the index returned to positive rates, with an average annual rebound of 0.3%, which accelerated to 3.6% in 2015. Also new and used homes have marked record price increases that were not seen since 2007. The second hand rebounded by 4.4% in 2016, and new homes rose by an average of 6.5%.
The highest increases during 2016 have taken place in the Community of Madrid, where it sold 8.6% more expensive, followed by Catalonia (7%) and the Balearic Islands (6.2%).
House prices continue to register moderate and sustained increases for the third year, but it is still far from the hefty growth it recorded during its best years.
In fact, according to the historical statistics series of the Ministry of Development, the average value per square meter of the fourth quarter of 2016 was 1,512 euros, 28% lower than the highs reached in the first quarter of 2008, when the square meter Reached 2,101 euros and then entered a phase of recession and double-digit falls in prices. In real terms (taking into account the variation of the CPI) the current price reflects a fall from a maximum of 35.8%. Further margin includes the appraiser Tinsa, which estimates that the finished (new and used) housing has been reduced by 40.8% since 2008.
Barely has recovered a 3.7% since the third quarter of 2014, when it touched its minimum value (1,455 euros per square meter), according to Fomento.
In relation to the last quarter of the year, from October to December, the INE reflects that prices increased by 4.5%, increasing by a half point the year-on-year increase in the third quarter (4%). There are 11 consecutive quarters in which house prices have positive interannual rates.
By type, new housing increased by 4.3% compared to the fourth quarter of 2015, three points less than in the previous quarter, while the price of used housing increased by 4.5%, a point more than In the previous quarter. The gap between new and second-hand home prices continues to narrow, with percentages remaining very close in the last quarter, although differences will increase over the course of 2017, experts say.
A total of nine autonomous communities increased their annual rate in the fourth quarter of 2016. The highest increases were recorded in Asturias, Cantabria and Community of Madrid, with increases of 1.9%, 1.6% and 1.2 points respectively . On the other hand, the biggest decreases of the annual variation occurred in Basque Country, La Rioja and Castilla -La Mancha, which decrease 2,3, 1,9 and 1,3 points, respectively.