Spanish Real Estate Market: June 2021 News

The first month of summer is behind! Spain has opened its borders to some foreign tourists, the government is preparing to launch "Covid passports" while planning to attract over 40 million tourists to Spain for the summer season. How is the Spanish property market reacting to this? What were the key events in the residential sector over the past month? Read our traditional rubric to learn the latest news.

Spain's National Institute of Statistics (INE) released a report on the country's property in June. According to INE, during the spring (March-April-May) 2021 there were over 40,000 purchases registered in the Property Registry each month. The figure of 40,000 purchases for three consecutive months was last seen in early 2020, just before the pandemic broke out. This was reported by Idealista.

The most sales were recorded in April – 42,211 transactions. Spanish property experts note the market recovery and highlight the success of new builds: 8,520 new homes were sold in April 2021, 82% more than in April 2020.

Spain's National Institute of Statistics has also released the following figures in June: in 2020, over 60,000 residents will leave Barcelona and Madrid together. 21,510 citizens have moved from Barcelona to smaller localities; in Madrid this figure is 38,240 people. This is the biggest outflow of population from the Spanish capitals since at least 1998, when these statistics began to be collected.

Some Spanish experts say that the trend to move to less populated areas of the country began as early as 2015, but took shape with the start of the pandemic.

Spain's Costa del Sol has been listed as one of the cheapest places to holiday in Europe for the summer of 2021. The ranking is based on the cost of a "basic tourist kit" according to British journalists. They take the price of a bottle of water, a cup of coffee, one soft drink, a bottle of beer, dinner for two with wine, another glass of wine separately, insect repellent and sunscreen. The lowest 'basic kit' price in Europe is found in the Bulgarian resort of Sunny Beach (£27.71), followed by Turkey's Marmaris (£37.19), Portugal's Algarve (£44.13) and the Czech Republic's Prague (£57.39). And in fifth place is the Costa del Sol (£57.96).

To compare: the Spanish island of Mallorca is priced at £75.73, the Greek island of Corfu at £91.09 and French Nice at £94.72. The cheapest non-European destinations were Indonesia's Bali (£55.01) and Vietnam's Hoi An (£58.39).

The Basque Country government has introduced a tax on houses and apartments that have been empty for more than two years. Property owners will be required to pay an additional €10 tax for each square metre unused. This was reported in June by major Spanish media. However, owners of empty homes are not exempt from property tax (IBI). The regional authorities intend to identify empty homes by checking the municipal register and analysing water and electricity consumption. If a housing remains unoccupied, the additional tax is increased by 10% each year and can rise to a maximum of €30 for each square metre.

Previously, similar measures have been imposed in Catalonia and the Balearic Islands to crack down on homeowners of empty properties.

According to the local government, some 20,000 houses and flats are now empty in the Basque Country, which is 2% of the region's housing stock.

The rental boom in Spain, which began during the pandemic, is starting to wane. According to the portal pisos.com, in June 2021 the average rental price fell by 2.83% compared to June 2020 and is now estimated at € 9.70/m².

Madrid and the Canary Islands have seen the fastest fall in rents (-8% compared to June 2020).

According to the Idealista portal, the average age of housing in Spain in 2021 is 45 years. The oldest housing is located in Barcelona (76 years on average), followed by San Sebastian (57), Madrid (54) and Bilbao (52).

On the contrary, the "youngest" cities in terms of real estate are Albacete (31 years), Lugo (32) and Murcia (33).

The Pestana CR7 Gran Vía Madrid, the hotel of the famous footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, opened its doors on 7 June 2021 to coincide with the beginning of the tourist season in Madrid. It is the second Pestana hotel in Madrid after Pestana Plaza Mayor, which launched in 2019. As the name suggests, Cristiano Ronaldo's new hotel is located on Gran Via in Madrid, the city's main street. The building's façade has been repainted white instead of yellow. In total the Portuguese athlete invested 13 million euros in the second hotel.

The hotel will have 168 rooms on ten floors, two of which will be dedicated to the solarium, swimming pool and terrace bar. The ninth, open to the public, houses the restaurant area. Ronaldo's new hotel is positioning itself as a supporter of sporting values and for this reason there is also a large fitness club there.