By Alex Trelinski • Published: 27 May 2020 • 14:03
NEW mortgages in Spain´s property market fell under the strain of the coronavirus pandemic lockdown, but home prices did show a small rise in April, with a prediction of some steady summer increases.
Official government figures have been released for March mortgages, where half of the month saw the State of Alarm lockdown measures in operation.
The statistics show that new mortgages fell by 14.6 per cent compared to a year earlier, and that sum is likely to be far higher when details are eventually released for April, which was fully under lockdown.
26,382 mortgages were granted in March, which represented a fall of just under 27 per cent on the returns for February.
State of Alarm rules stopped real estate agents from carrying out property visits with clients as well as taking out mortgages and doing business with notaries.
The news comes as no surprise considering all the restrictions which were in force, and have recently been relaxed allowing agencies face-to-face contact with customers and the resumption of home inspections.
Property prices, have on average, not fallen with on-line site Idealista actually reporting a tiny rise for April, and experts believing that there is a lot of pent-up demand in the system, which may push up prices.
The relaxation of international travel restrictions in Spain this July will all see key players from foreign markets like the UK, France, Germany, and Scandinavia be in a position to resume any interest they had in buying a holiday home or retirement property in tourist areas like the Costa del Sol and Costa Blanca.
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