Housing prices increased 2.2% in Catalonia and 1.8% in Spain in 2014

Barcelona (ACN).- The average price of houses and flats in Catalonia was 2.2% higher at the end of 2014 than at the end of the previous year, according to the Spanish Statistics Institute (INE). At Spanish level, housing prices increased by 1.8% over 2014. It is the first time since 2007 that housing prices have increased both in Catalonia and Spain as a whole. In quarterly terms, the price of flats and houses in Catalonia increased by 0.6% between the end of September and end of December. At Spanish level, they increased by 0.2% in the same period. All the Autonomous Communities in Spain have registered positive figures in annual terms, except Cantabria, where housing prices dropped by 1.8% overall. The recovery of the real estate market is a particularly strong indicator of the economic recovery in Catalonia and Spain, especially taking into account the collapse of the construction sector during the years of economic crisis.

In Catalonia, the price of previously-owned housing units grew by 2.2% between December 2013 and December 2014. Over the final quarter of the year, the price grew by 0.9%. In Spain as a whole, previously-owned flats and houses increased in price by 1.7% in annual terms and by 0.3% in quarterly terms.

In addition, newly-built flats and houses increased by 2.4% to the end of 2014 in annual terms in Catalonia. However, they dropped by 1.6% in quarterly terms, compared with average prices at the end of September.