2015: The Start of Recovery of the Spanish Property Market

According to a report by by El Mundo’s property specialist Jorge Salido, reports the year is kicking off with optimism after green shoots appeared in 2014, and a new property market cycle has begun. El Mundo is one of Spain’s leading daily newspapers, with considerable influence over housing-market expectation.

Experts forecast increasing demand driven by price stability (no longer falling), cheap and accessible finance, and a rising supply of new building projects.

This optimism is reportedly shared by experts such as Gonzalo Bernardos, economist and head of the Masters degree in Property in the University of Barcelona; José García Montalvo, economist and lecturer at the Pompeu Fabra University; Julio Gil, President of the Foundation for Property Research (FEI in Spanish); and the property consultant, José Luis Ruiz Bartolomé.

These four experts agree that a positive alignment of price stability, mortgage lending, and new development sets the scene for a recovery in home sales, and a reactivation of the property sector, fundamental to the Spanish economy.

However, the experts warn that there are still some causes for concern. “During 2015 the market will again move at different speeds,” Julio Gil told El Mundo. “On the one hand, areas where prices will stabilise and on the other, places where price adjustment will continue more moderately,” Gil still worries about a huge excess supply and low household purchasing power.