In Spain, new housing is going through good times after having experienced many difficult years. There are more and more new property buyers which is very positive news for the Spanish real estate sector. As regards new housing, we can say that the bursting of the real estate bubble marked a before and after. In 2008, the construction of new housing pulled up sharp and this led to making it fall into disuse. During those years, new housing sales became paralyzed in favour of second-hand property, which was, in those days, the only active product in the market. Seven years went by, and hardly anybody bought new construction homes. It was not until 2015 that new housing showed symptons of life. Nowadays, the situation is different because new housing has become important in the Spanish real estate market and for the first time, families are thinking about buying new property. This is why, we can say that after having wandered in the desert, at last, new housing is going through good times.

NEW CONSTRUCTION HOMES GAIN STRENGTH

The data are eloquent: in the first term of 2019, more than 26.000 new construction homes were sold in Spain. This meant an increase of more than 14% with regard to 2018. Consequently, we get an idea of the important progression of this product. On the other hand, second-hand property scarcely rose 1,4% with regard to 2018. These facts and figures clearly show that, at present, the trend is new housing. In great cities like Madrid or Barcelona it is very difficult to have access to new housing because of the high demand and the shortage of the product. This has often caused buyers to look for property in places close to these great cities where the purchase of this product is feasible. At the end of 2018 and the beginning of 2019, many new housing residential projects were carried out. According to real estate analysts, this new trend, which favours the purchase of new housing, will not decrease over the coming years. We must bear in mind that this kind of product has hardly had any activity during the last seven years.

MORE VISAS FOR NEW HOUSING CONSTRUCTION

Recently, we wrote an article about the fact that in Spain buying property turns out to be cheaper than renting. At present, buying property is 27% cheaper than in 2007. This fact does not go unnoticed and has thus led to making many Spanish people decide to invest in housing. We also mentioned that society is more and more aware of the importance of sustainable housing. Buyers want buildings with near-zero energy consumption. Therefore, these buildings must be new construction. It is true that it is an expensive product. However, we must not forget that second-hand property is also becoming more expensive each day. Very often, the buyers want a spacious home with first quality materials as well as technology and therefore, they go for new housing. According to the report carried out by the Ministry of Public Works, in the first term of 2019, the number of visas for new housing construction doubled with regard to 2018. It is obvious that there is a strong demand for this product and that the new housing market is boosting again.

Picture 02: Zarateman