According to a study carried out by the Pompeu Fabre University (Barcelona) and Tecnocasa, the housing market in Spain has started slowing down and a halt in the massive price increase experienced over the past fews could be near.

The authors have based their opinions and conclusions on the analysis of the sale of over 12,000 second-hand houses and flats and details of mortgages granted to buyers from the first semester of 2004 up to June this year. According to the report, lived-in property (as opposed to brand new) now takes an average of 83 days to sell, which is 15 days longer than a year ago.

Another finding of the report is that property sellers this year are more likely to be prepared to negotiate the price than they were last year, and that on average buyers are able to secure a 5 percent reduction in the original asking price. During the presentation of the report yesterday, executives of Tecnocasa said that this should not be interpreted as an indication that the price of housing in Spain was at last starting to come down, since the reduction was usually agreed on property that was overhoused in the first place.

However, in their opinion, the findings of the report do suggest that the conditions necessary for an eventual slowing down in the Spanish real estate market at some time in the near future are starting to appear.

Other findings of the report:

• 30 percent of house-buyers in Spain are foreign.
• 72 percent of all house-buyers come from Spain or another EU country. The rest are non-European, mostly people from South America, Eastern European countries and North Africa who have settled in Spain
• Over 49 percent of second-hand house buyers are between 25 and 35 years old, and 61 percent buy the property together with another person
• The average mortgage in Spain in June was 154.
  

  890 euros, a rise of 18.80 percent with respect to the same month last year

• In over 60 percent of all cases, the mortgate loan covers between 75 and 100 percent the total value of the property
• Small flats are proportionally more expensive than larger flats and houses
• The average price of lived in property in Spain per sq. metre is 3,000 euros in the most expensive areas of Spain (Madrid, Barcelona and Vizcaya). dropping to just 1,500 euros per sq. metre in the provinces of Alicante, Cadiz, Seville and Valencia
• The most expensive cities in Spain in terms of housing prices are (in order) Barcelona, Madrid, Bilbao and L’Hospitalet de Llobregat (3.070 euros).

Related links:
Mortages in Spain
Mortgages for non-residents in Spain
The price of housing in Spain
Investing in property in Spain