The price of housing goes up for the first time in five years, between July and September the average house price rose almost 1%, according to the Association of Registrars, while over the same period last year, prices fell 5.35%. Registrars data suggest that the coming quarters will show whether this incipient ” turnaround ” is fact or merely a temporary situation.

The average house price rose 0.91 % in the third quarter compared to the previous three months, which is the first quarterly increase in five years, according to the statistical property of the College Registrar.

The report finds that the prices of apartments may have touched a minimum and be showing ” a turnaround. ”

For the third quarter of this year, the average cost of buying a flat resulted in a drop of 5.35% compared to the same period in 2012, ” a much milder decline than that achieved in previous quarters, where we saw annual double-digit declines “, says the study.

Property prices in Spain are 1% up in the last quarter

The slight upturn in prices recorded after they have contracted by 31.07% from the highs that were reached in the upward cycle, before the crisis, which has led to today are placed in ” mid- levels seen around 2003. ”

However, registrars estimate that ” it seems clear that something is changing in the pricing of housing. ”

Also the institution estimates that ” a positive sign of quarterly results, despite its small claims, is undoubtedly an additional sign to indicate that possibly the current housing prices, on average, are close to their lowest levels. ”

Increased demand from foreign buyers

Regarding the reasons for this eventual turnaround in the price, the report points to increased housing demand by foreigners, but in any case its deemed ” insufficient to justify a price recovery. ”

However, registrars estimate that the current economic situation does not seem to have ” sufficient strength to create change “, and that the demand for housing ” has not yet recovered. ”

” Possibly the current price levels may already be proving attractive to those with purchasing power, leading to a slowdown in the intensity of price adjustment, being able to even slightly overall increases quarterly, ” argues the College Registrar. ”

As for sales data, statistical records reveal that foreigners were responsible for 12.16% of the total 76,818 transactions recorded between the months of July and September property transactions.

This figure, although yields an increase of 2.06 % compared to a year earlier, shows a decrease of 2.76 % from the previous quarter and is the second lowest quarterly volume purchases of the last nine years.

Of the total volume of transactions, more than half ( 55.3 %) were resale properties and new homes 44.6%, while the latter experienced an increase of 4.35% from the previous quarter.

As for foreign demand, the British maintained the first position with 14.75% of the total, followed by French (11.45% ), Russians ( 9.35% ), Belgium (7.25 %), German ( 6.94% ), Sweden ( 5.87% ), Norway (5.15 %) and Italian (3.64 %).