SPANISH PROPERTY STILL CHEAPEST INVESTMENT OPTION

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House prices in Spain fell 12.8% in the fourth quarter of 2012 compared to the same period of 2011, which placed the country at the head of the European Union, where prices fell by an average of just 1.4%, according to data released this week by the EU statistical office.

According to Eurostat, after Spain, Romania saw a favourable for buyer’s drop of 9.1%, and Slovenia saw prices dip by 8.8%. In contrast, the most notable increases were in Latvia, where prices went up by 9.8%, Estonia by 5.8%, and Malta, with an increase of 5.4%.

Compared with the third quarter, prices fell 0.5% in the euro zone and 0.7% in the whole EU. In the case of Spain, the fall was 1.4%, although now seemingly levelling off somewhat, after the drop of 3.8% recorded between July and September.

In quarterly terms, Latvia also led the price increase with a 4.2% increase over quarter three; Malta saw a 2.1% increase and Luxembourg added 1.6% to their house prices. At the other extreme, the largest quarterly declines were in Romania with a 7.9% fall, Slovenia dropped 3.5% and Hungary saw a 2.2% reduction.

The price index of housing describes the evolution of all residential property acquired by households, and covers both new and second-hand homes.

Cheaper prices may go some way to explain the sharp rise in property sales at the start of this year in Spain. The number of residential property sales in February rose by 17.3%, with a total of 35,486 homes being purchased; this is according to figures also released at the same time this week by the National Statistics Institute.

Both new and resale properties are showing signs of improved performance. In February, sales of new homes rose by 18%, to 18,763 properties, whereas second hand home sales increased by 16.5% to 16,723 homes.

Filed under: http://www.theleader.info/article/38546/

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