Property
S pr pa o in in per ’s b En ty es gl ma t ish g
www.theolivepress.es
NOVEMBER 2024
THE BEST OF THE BEST
I
T is one of the most prestigious architecture prizes in the world. So it’s amazing that Spain is connected to two of the three buildings up for the top prize of the UK’s Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) awards this year. Spain-based architect David Chipperfield is on the shortlist of three for the International Prize, for his clever conversion of a monastery (left) into an office block in Paderborn, Germany. British talent Chipperfield, who spends much of the year in Galicia, used ‘sculptural demolition’ to convert the St Vincenz Hospital into the headquarters of the TAP holding group. Also on the list is the fabulous Modulus Matrix social housing project, in Barcelona, by Peris + Toral Architects. The stunning 10,000 sqm block was built almost entirely from wood on the site of a former cinema. The largest wooden building in Spain, it was built from sustainable wood from the Basque Country. The other nominee is the Lianzhou Museum of Photography, in China, which was built on the site of an old sugar mill. See Wooden wonder page 18
SHORTLIST: Lianzhou Museum and (left) Barcelona’s wooden social housing scheme
BREAKNECK PACE
Spain’s housing market rockets further up with 10% annual growth – but is it a bubble? writes Walter Finch SPAIN’S housing market continues to set records and shoot for the stars. It has grown by 9.6% in a year and 16.6% since January 2023, according
to the latest data. Breakneck expansion has propelled it well above the largest previous peak of 2007, which led to a dramatic crash, as the graph (left) shows. The average house in Spain now costs €2,21 per square metre, 4.4% higher
than in June 2007, when it peaked at €2,11 sqm, according to property portal Idealista. However, by February 2010 it had tumbled to €1,89 sqm, before dropping to an alarming €1,49 sqm in 2016 worsened by the euro crisis. Since then Spain’s prices have embarked on an impressive recovery that went into overdrive in January last year.
One of the highest rises is in Madrid which exploded by 18.8% in a year to €4,83 sqm, while in Barcelona prices are up 10.8% to €4,59 sqm. Valencia saw the highest rise, where prices have increased by a fifth (20%), followed closely by Malaga (19.6%), Santander (18.1%) and Alicante (16.7%). San Sebastian is the most expensive city overall, at €5,631 sqm, while
Sustainable or cause for alarm?
UP AND UP: The price chart keeps soaring from 2016 low
THE situation now is fundamentally different to 2007 in terms of supply. Spain was building more than the whole of Europe then and we are now firmly in a resale market with constricted supply. These days clients are not buying for investment but for lifestyle and you can no longer get mortgages with loan to value ratios of 100% and even for non residents.
COMMENT by Olive Press Property Insider Adam Neale Meanwhile, further regulatory changes have closed mechanisms that facilitated a boom such as the ability to sell a contract during construction (aka ‘flipping’).
Zamora is the cheapest at €1,17 sqm. Meanwhile, all but four provinces recorded higher prices, with Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Las Palmas seeing the steepest rises of 16.4% and 16% respectively. Other fast growers include the Balearic Islands (14.8%), Alicante (13.9%), Malaga (12.7%) and Murcia (14.9%). For anyone looking for bargains, house prices have actually fallen in Ourense (-3.2%), Córdoba (-2.5%), Badajoz (-1.1%) and Ciudad Real (-0.7%). The Balearic Islands continue to be the most expensive autonomous region at €4,663 sqm, followed by the Community of Madrid (€3,64 sqm), the Basque Country (€3,01 sqm), the Canary Islands (€2,77 sqm) and Catalunya (€2,44 sqm). Bargain hunters should check out Castilla-La Mancha (€937), Extremadura (€977 sqm) and Castilla y León (€1,199 sqm).