Kyero.com Q2 2009 Spanish House Price Index

 

According to the Q2 2009 Spanish House Price Index from Kyero.com, the average asking price of a Spanish property has decreased by 2% from Q1.



Download the latest Spanish House Price Index. It's updated and published quarterly to evaluate the advertised prices of 100,000 Spanish properties.

Lugo province leads the way with asking prices dropping by almost 16% quarter-on quarter and almost 30% year-on-year

Provinces with decreasing prices ProvinceQ1/Q2 2009 Q2 2008/2009 Lugo-15.8%-29.2%Barcelona-12.85-0.8%Sevilla-5.1%-27.1%Cordoba-4.6%-9.0%Valencia-3.6%-12.8%Pontevedra-3.2%-22.3%Teruel-2.9%-27.8%Murcia-2.6%-6.3%Alicante-2.4%-3.1%Coruna-1.6%-1.2%Almeria-1.6%-6.9%Granada-1.1%-1.2%Castellon-0.8%-5.1%Jaen-0.6%-3.1%Badajoz-0.5%-9.9%
While the average asking price has dropped significantly in many provinces - a welcome and necessary move - some have actually recorded price increases.

Provinces with increasing prices ProvinceQ1/Q2 2009 Q2 2008/2009 Fuerteventura+11.0%+4.9%Asturias+5.3%+15.6%Huelva+ 4.8%+8.4%Malaga+3.4%+6.7%Tenerife+1.6%+0.9%It's difficult to justify why asking prices in these areas appear to be increasing - especially when common sense and first-hand experience tells us that actual sales vales are dropping. In all likelihood, there are two factors at play:

1. Vendors are not dropping asking prices to leave more room to negotiate a higher final sales price
2. Much of the property stock is 'stale' and is being left on the market at unrealisticly high prices

Loosely correlating these house price trends with the latest Kyero.com enquiry report, it appears that neither of these tactics of artificially inflating house prices is effective.

Potential buyers are seeking, finding and enquiring about properties which they judge as representing good value. For this category of Spanish property, there appears to be no shortage of potential buyers.

I double-checked this theory with a local estate agent who will only market a property if he believes it to be competitively priced.

He cited a recent sale where the property was on the market for just two weeks, and received two asking-price offers in that time. The particular resale property was nothing special - just competitively priced.

I asked him whether he was losing business by turning away vendors who have unrealistic price expectations. He smiled and said "My commission on a property I can't sell is precisely zero. With my marketing expenses, I actually save money by not accepting these properties."

In the Spanish property market where the lack of official house price data actively stifles buyer confidence, a savvy vendor can gain an advantage by pricing their property competitively, and being willing and able to justify that asking price.

In today's connected property market which provides freedom and ease of access to information, the old tactics of double the price and offer a 50% discount are no longer effective - just ask any property buyer.

Martin Dell, Kyero.com



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