Property Sales Buoyant
The price of housing in 2016 increased (on average) by 5.7% over 2015, according to the Association of Property Registrars.
The purchase and sale of registered property in the fourth quarter reached 93,423 transactions, 11.2% more than in the same period of 2015 and the best result of any fourth quarter in the last seven years.
Over the whole of 2016, the market surpassed the barrier of the 400,000 conveyances: 403,743 operations, showing an increase of 13.9%.
Property resales rose by 18.5%, while new housing experienced a decrease of 3.2%.
Of the total transactions, 13.3% were made by foreigners (about 53,000 transactions).
By nationality during the fourth quarter, not put off in any way by Brexit, The British led with 16.4%, followed by Germans (9.2%), French (8.5%), Swedes (6.4%), and Belgians (6.3%).
Mortgages – Sales Buoyant after Brexit
- Average mortgage of 111,656 euros
- The average mortgage in 2016 was 111,656 €, resulting in a year-on-year increase of 2%.
- 31% of new mortgage loans are fixed interest rate, a new historical high.
- 2.4%, is the initial interest rates for new mortgagors, similar to the 2016.
- The length of mortgage taken out decreased slightly during the fourth quarter, to 23 years and two months.
- The average monthly mortgage rate in 2016 stood at 522.60 euros (2.7% less than in 2015), eating up an average of 27.5% of salary.
Brexit No Sweat
It will be Wednesday 29 March when the United Kingdom activates Article 50 of the Treaty of Lisbon, the mechanism that initiates the process of Britain leaving the European Union.
Around 284,000 Britons, according to official data, reside permanently in Spain.
British Residents in EU
The National Bureau of Statistics has updated the figures of British residents in the European Union, and vice versa. About 900,000 Britons are scattered throughout the EU, while 3.1 million Europeans live in the United Kingdom.
Brits Choose Spain
Spain is the EU country where most British people live (308,805). However, it is ninth in the list of countries whose citizens move to Britain, behind Poland, Ireland, Romania, Portugal, Italy, Lithuania, France and Germany.
London waits to see what the EU proposes for British residents in the 27 countries in order to match the arrangements and provide certainty.
