House prices in Spain rose in the second quarter of 2014, the first quarterly rise since 2008 - six years ago.
Spain’s official index of house prices registered a positive growth of 0.8% in annual terms and was up 1.7% on the first quarter of 2014.
This rise is the first year-on-year rise since 2008, the year that preceded a massive Spanish property crash from a clearly overheated market.
The market fell an estimated 35%, more in some sectors, leaving the country’s banks holding hundreds of thousands of repossessions, new builds and part completed properties.
According to the index, prices for new builds rose 1.9%, while pre-owned houses have seen a rise of 0.2%.
These increases may seem small but they represent the first chink of light in a doomsday Spanish property market that has seen recent firmness only in the prime sector.
The southern coastline especially is littered with incomplete and abandoned developments, a tribute to Spain’s banking system that threw money at anyone with a pulse, a hard hat, and a business plan on a sheet of A4.
