Housing in Spain is on the path of recovery. However, we must point out that there are important differences in each region. If we bear in mind the evolution in construction we can see the different rhythms that take place depending on the area. When the real-estate bubble burst some time ago, we saw that the recovery of housing in Spain had become a reality. Nevertheless, facts and figures show that it is an unequal recovery. Last May, the Instituto de Tecnologías de la Construcción de Catalunya (IteC), drew up a report  that analysed the present construction scene in Spain. This report emphasizes and highlights the differences in each region. In this blog we have recently written about the positive aspect that new housing is undergoing in the community of Madrid. The IteC report provides encouraging data on a nationwide basis. In 2016, 64.000 new housing approved projects were granted whereas in 2014 the number was 34.000. But what happens if we compare one community to another?

THREE FACTORS IN THEIR ANALYSIS

The IteC report takes into account three main factors:

1) The impact of the drop in construction on that specific community.

2) The current recovery in that same community.

3) An in-depth analysis of the period between 1995-1999. These years were chosen as they can be regarded as representative of the construction development in Spain.

The IteC report shows that there was a great drop in construction in every community and many of them even reached 70-80%. Depending on different factors, some were able to recover better than others. In any case, IteC lays great stress on a fact which every Spanish community shares: there still exists an important distance regarding construction between Spain and the European Union. Therefore, Spain still has a long way to go.

THE BASQUE COUNTRY, THE BALEARICS AND MADRID ARE AT THE HEAD

The autonomous communities which have best recovered from the crisis are the Basque Country, the Balearics and the Community of Madrid. Extremadura follows them but at a certain distance. In the IteC report, the first three are ranked Aa ( the highest score ), whereas Extremadura is graded Ab. The IteC report considers that the Basque Country, the Balearics and Madrid have been able to emerge from the construction crisis due to their economic development. The community of Extremadura did not suffer the crisis as much as the others but the recovery is being extremely difficult. Catalonia, Galicia, Castile and Leon, Aragon and the Canary Islands are graded Bb and Bc. These can be regarded as the national average because they have all suffered a fall and have later drifted back to normal. Lastly, the worst positions are given to the Community of Valencia, Castile-La Mancha and Murcia. These communities were greatly affected when the real-estate bubble burst. Fortunately, La Rioja and Navarre fared better.