House prices in Catalonia rise 7.7% to highest level since 2009

House prices in Catalonia rose once again in the first quarter of the year, to the highest level since 2009, according to data published by Spain's National Statistics Institute (INE) on Wednesday.

The Housing Price Index (IPV) rose by 7.7% year-on-year, maintaining the steep upward trend already seen in Q4 of 2021, when it grew by 6.1% to reach the highest level in thirteen years.

The increase in the cost of new builds has soared by 8.9% on Q1 2021, while prices for existing homes have climbed 7.5%.

Across Spain as a whole, the IPV rose 8.5% year-on-year, over two percentage points more than in the previous quarter. This is the highest jump since Q3 2007.

The price of new constructions rose 10.1%, while the resale costs of existing homes rose 8.2%, the biggest increase since Q2 2007.

Indeed, in Barcelona, "Spain’s eviction capital", the cost of renting an apartment rose 30 times more than wages from 2015 to 2019, although the pandemic did help bring average rent prices down from €964.81 in 2020 (higher than the minimum wage at the time) to €918.84 in 2021. 

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Soaring rents in Catalonia – especially in the capital Barcelona – have pushed housing to the top of the social and political agenda. Evictions, sometimes with a heavy police presence, are commonplace, even when there was a moratorium for vulnerable people during the pandemic. 

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