In the first three months of 2014, home sales have improved compared with the figures recorded between January and March 2013. Financial conditions remain attractive in the mortgage market, with interest rates and affordability ratios at all-time lows. This year-on-year improvement in sales applies to all markets, but particularly to those located on the Mediterranean coast.
In this context, the decline in prices has continued to ease, in line with that observed in the previous quarter. In some markets, especially on the islands, prices are already showing signs of a certain stability.
However, with respect to production of new homes, the number of homes started remains at historical lows, with clear signs of having bottomed out, but still with no signs of recovery.
Overall, the residential real-estate sector continues to adjust, and the economic recovery that appears to have begun in Spain could foreseeably result in a gradual increase of demand and stabilization of prices throughout the year.
