Cheap Spanish Propewrty prices drive sales recovery.

Recovering sales in Spain's regions are linked to lower house prices, according to a comparative analysis of data by Fotocasa. Indeed, falling values are encouraging buyers to enter the market once again, Kyero reported. Six regions in Spain avoided drops in sales during the last quarter, including the Canary Islands, Catalonia, Murcia, Valencia, Andalusia and La Rioja. The first five regions saw rises in sales of 16.2 per cent, 12.1 per cent, 9.5 per cent, three per cent and 0.1 per cent respectively, while La Rioja remained stable.

Fotocasa noted that these are largely the areas where Spanish property prices fell the most over the last year, the news portal revealed. Murcia, Catalonia and Valencia saw values decline by around 11 per cent, while La Rioja had a 16 per cent drop. Beatriz Toribio, head of research for Fotocasa, said: "This data demonstrates that, in the current context of economic crisis and tightening of credit by banks, the only way right now to get rid of the large housing stock that exists in Spain is to lower the price."

Nevertheless, this rule might not apply to popular holiday destinations, where second-home buyers and investors are snapping up modern, high specification builds. Competition in these areas is only likely to get more fierce too, as more and more people flock to Spain. Mortgage specialist Conti recently revealed that among UK buyers Spain is now the second most preferred destination, behind France. However, the gap between the two nations is closing. Indeed, 36 per cent of all enquiries received so far this year have been for Spain. This equates to a year-on-year rise of three per cent, while French property interest declined by two per cent, although it counted for 43 per cent of all enquiries.

What's more, Spain accounted for more enquiries than France during May, June and July of this year. According to Conti, this indicates that confidence is increasing and investors are in a strong position when buying in the country. Due to the number of homes available, it is possible to negotiate an even lower price than advertised with motivated vendors. 

Also see Cheap Property in Spain for sale