Spain Says 4 Regions Posted Annual Property Price Increases in 3Q

Spain's government said Thursday that four of the country's 17 regions, including the Madrid metropolitan area, posted property price increases in the third quarter compared with the same period a year ago, even as overall prices in the country remained in decline.
In a press release, the country's development ministry said property prices in Greater Madrid, with over 10% of Spain's population, rose 0.3% on the year. The biggest increase, at 4.8%, was posted by the Balearic Islands, a relatively small region with a high percentage of foreign residents, particularly Germans. The other two regions with higher property prices, Navarre and Extremadura, are also among the country's smallest.
In Spain as a whole, the ministry said, property prices fell 4.5% on the year and by 0.5% from the second quarter. This is the slowest pace of decline since early 2011, when the country was sliding towards a double-dip recession that it only left behind in the third quarter of this year.
According to the ministry's estimates--which are similar but not exactly the same as those made by the country's statistics institute--Spanish property prices have fallen without interruption since the second quarter of 2008, and are down 29% in the period.

Source: online.wsj.com