Experts on the prospects of the Spanish real estate market

Property experts see no signs of another Spanish property bubble emerging anytime soon.

The Spanish property portal hosted a series of talks at the Real Estate Conference 2017 earlier this month in Madrid. The event brought together over 200 property and marketing professionals and included market analysis by renowned experts, roundtable discussions and awards.

The first speaker was Gonzalo Bernardos, Director of the Master's Degree in Consulting, Management and Promotion of Real Estate at the University of Barcelona, who spoke about the trends in the Spanish real estate market over the next year. He emphasized that "price increases will reach all cities and in Spain prices will soon increase everywhere." In particular, he highlighted "Barcelona, where the year will end with a 20% increase year-on-year, Mallorca with more than 20% increase and Madrid with just under 20% due to its huge capacity." He added that "prices in the major cities of Spain will continue to increase until 2021."

The economist also believes that "unemployment will be around 10% for the next few years and wages are rising right now, which will bring more consumer confidence and higher purchasing power. This will gradually weaken the rental market." He said that "it is cheaper to buy than to rent right now because interest rates are at historic lows."

Beatriz Toribio, head of research, agreed with Bernardos that there is currently no risk of another bubble in the Spanish property market. “There is no risk because financing is controlled. Four out of 10 mortgages are fixed-rate and 40% of sales are mortgage-free, which also protects the market.” She added that “buyer activity levels are lower than during the boom years and prices are rising rapidly.”