In 2022, the Spanish residential market was in good condition for homeowners. Demand was growing, prices were rising, and the return on investment was growing. Last year, according to Tinsa, the cost of apartments in the country increased by an average of 8.8% and growth was observed in almost all cities of Spain. However, there were also exception cities. An example of such a local market, whose prices have fallen markedly in the past year, is Samara. In this city, the cost has fallen, including on the ground.
It is not so easy to single out a single reason for the decline in Samara. There are many factors of price reduction, but perhaps one of the most prominent is depopulation. Zamora has been actively emptier in recent decades — a fate that is by no means unique to this city, because the devastation of provincial Spain is a problem that has been talked about for years. In 2000, the population of Zamora was 65,000, today it is less than 60,000. There are no exact figures, however.
The young population is actively migrating to other parts of the country, as Zamora and its suburbs are deprived of industry and a developed economy. There are no jobs, so the young workforce and, as a result, the consumer, leave the region at the first opportunity. At the same time, the Spanish developers did not abandon the city. They continue to build new housing and at a fairly fast pace. However, most of the objects sold on the market still belong to the secondary market segment. This is a supported, old housing.
Between 2017 and 2021, Zamora lost 3.35% of its population. If the sample is expanded to the middle of the last century, the city gradually lost 40% of its original population. The city is drowning in the offers of the secondary market without repair and, sometimes, in a catastrophic state. When the economy has nothing to offer within the framework of career prospects, and the local housing market is drowning in supported facilities, it is almost impossible to demonstrate good growth indicators. On average, it can take up to 15 months from the moment of entering the market to its sale, which is 2 times more than in cities similar to Samara in terms of population, such as Teruel and Soria.
The sellers' approach to pricing is also a problem. An ordinary homeowner understands little about the principles of the market. They are not experts in marketing and do not know when prices can be inflated, and when it is necessary to reduce and in what volumes. Thus, sellers only support the general unattractiveness of the local market. At the same time, local residents are extremely reluctant to rent out real estate. They know that the law in most cases takes the side of the tenant, not the landlord, and do not want to take another risk.
Hope for Samara
It is worth noting, however, that the future of Samara is not devoid of a ray of hope. In recent years, there has been a very timid change in the depopulation trend. Some of the young people, after studying abroad, begin to return to the warm hinterland of Spain. We are talking about a variety of specialists — from IT workers who do not care about their place of work, to professional journalists who have returned from work in the capital. They know this city better than ordinary buyers and can find comfortable and profitable offers for themselves, which is helped by the fact that they are already local. If the city manages to somehow reverse the depopulation and create attractive conditions for the return of young professionals to the city, the local market has a good chance for impressive growth.