Experts point out that now is the most favourable period for buying a house in Spain. However, how long will this last? Low-interest rates this year, especially at the end of August, mean that conditions are favourable for buyers looking to take out a mortgage. However, house values have been held back after last year’s fall and have begun to rise.
According to the National Institute of Statistics (INE), house prices rose 2.4% quarter-on-quarter and 3.3% year-on-year from April to the National Institute of Statistics (INE). Experts say this significant growth will increase in the coming months. “The price will continue to rise, as we already see in other countries such as the United States and the Netherlands, where it has increased by 18%,” says José García Montalvo, professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Pompeu Fabra (UPF). However, Spain is still far from these indicators, and therefore, he believes that now is the best time to buy at current prices.
The experts focus on Euribor, a mortgage base index used to calculate interest rates. This indicator is historically low (-0.498% at the end of August), which creates a favourable scenario for buyers. “It is easier to resort to financing with low-interest rates,” says Rafael Sambola, professor of finance at Eada Business School in Barcelona.
The expert believes that prices will gradually rise this and next year, in line with the prospects for economic recovery and growth in the gross domestic product (GDP). “Therefore, in this context, the price of housing today will be more attractive than in the coming months,” says Sambola. In Spain, in the second quarter of this year, property prices in new buildings rose 6% year on year, while secondary housing rose 2.9%, according to INE.
Sambola adds that while the data show an upward trend in prices, not everything can be taken for granted in an unprecedented situation like the current uncertainty of a pandemic. However, José Maria Alfaro, general coordinator of the Federation of Real Estate Associations (FAI), points out that they are still far from their peak in 2007, shortly before the 2008 crisis. Despite these increases, Jaime Cabrero García, President of Madrid’s Official Association of Real Estate Agents (COAPI), notes that the market is in a stabilization phase.