Balearics records biggest increase in house prices

PALMA
THE cost of housing (not new building) in the Balearics has risen by 2.28 per cent in the last 12 months, the biggest increase in the country, according to a report by Facilisimo.com, corresponding to the month of August.

The price per square metre in Spain was 2'510 euros in August, a drop of 0.08 per cent compared to the same month last year, “confirming the stagnation of prices which started at the beginning of the year,” the report said.

This small drop was enough to brake the accumulated increase this year, which, at 1.5 per cent, is nearly one point behind the inflation rate.
The figures, however, are creating “a climate of uncertainty” as it means that predictions for 2007 have to be corrected.
Prices went down in ten regions, including La Rioja (-1.97 per cent), Ceuta and Melilla (-1.45), Catalonia (-0.55), Castilla and Leon (-0.49) and Andalucia (-0.37).

After the Balearics, the biggest increases were in Castilla La Mancha (+1.39 per cent), the Basque Country (+1.25), Asturias (+0.84) and Navarre (+0.59).

The report also indicates that the biggest drops in price in the first eight months of the year were in the provinces of Ourense (-10.26 per cent), Soria (-8.83) and Palancia (-6.11).

In contrast, the biggest increases were in Huesca (+18.19 per cent), Salamanca (+16.74) and Teruel (+13.63).
House prices in the community of Madrid went up by 1.5 per cent in the first eight months of the year, bringing the average price per square metre to 2'510 euros per square metre. In Madrid the capital, however, the average price is 4'157 euros per square metre, a 2.12 per cent drop in the first eight months of the year.

In the province of Barcelona, prices dropped by 0.87 per cent in the first eight months of the year, bringing the average price per square metre to 3'862 euros.

In the city of Barcelona, the cost of housing (not new building) dropped by 2.15 per cent to 4'875 euros per square metres.