Intersting article by the Spanish ministry of Housing.

Spanish property inflation slowed to 13.4% in the 12 months leading up to the end of the September, down from 13.9% in 12 months to the end of June, and 15.7% to the end of March. For comparison, Spanish property prices increased by 17.45%. In 2004, so Spanish property inflation appears to be cooling. After the latest price increases Spanish property costs 1,781.5 Euros per square metre. Meanwhile the Spanish property portal 'Idealista' reveals that average resale property asking prices rose in the 2nd quarter by 3.5% in Barcelona (to 4,362 Euros/m2) and 2.3% in Madrid (to 3,981 Euros/m2). A full review of the 3rd quarter property market performance will be published in the next bulletin.

Construction licences up by 7.1% to new record


According to the latest quarterly report on the Spanish property market by Metrovacesa - one of Spain's biggest developers - Spanish property sales in Q1 2005 (compared to Q1 2004) fell in Andalusia (-4.4%), the Autonomous Region of Valencia (-3.3%), and Murcia (-12.8%). On the other hand sales activity rose in the Balearics (13.2%), Galicia (17%), Aragon (22.2%), Catalonia (23.9%), Cantabria (32.2%), and Rioja (40%). These figures show that, in general terms, sales activity is declining in those regions that have enjoyed a high level of sales driven by foreign buyers in recent years.