Property prices
Torremolinos and Alhaurín de la Torre are among the 26 Spanish municipalities where the price of older homes is higher
18.11.09 - 12:25 -
For sale. In some areas the average price of resale properties has overtaken that of brand new homes. SUR
A new car costs more than a second hand one; the same can be applied to almost any item, unless it has historical value or is a collectors’ piece. When it comes to real estate the same logic can be applied in 90 per cent of Spanish municipalities, leaving a small group of 26 where the market trends don’t seem to follow.
In this group of villages, towns and even cities the average price per square metre of a brand new flat is now cheaper than that of a resale property. Two municipalities in the province of Malaga, Torremolinos and Alhaurín de la Torre, are included on this list, drawn up by Idealista.com, a website specialising in the real estate market, using official statistics from the Housing Ministry.
The report reveals that in Alhaurín de la Torre a square metre of a resale property costs on average 1,837 euros, whereas homes on new developments are selling at an average of 1,815 euros per square metre, that is, 1.2% more.
In Torremolinos a square metre of a used property costs an average of 2,182 euros, compared with the 2,176 euros asked for the same portion of a brand new home.
The reason for this reversal of the trend lies with the fact that developers have been left with a large stock of unsold homes on new developments that are either already finished or nearing completion. Given this situation they have had to drop their prices in an attempt to attract buyers. At the same time the average price on the resale property market has not fallen to such an extent. There are still property owners who are in no hurry to sell and others who are reluctant to drop their prices because they bought at the height of the property boom and still face large monthly mortgage repayments.
The study carried out by Idealista.com states that the same situation is happening in provincial capital cities such as Jaén, Ávila and Ciudad Real, as well as large commuter towns such as Alcobendas, Alcorcón, Móstoles, Pinto or Leganés, all on the outskirts of Madrid, and Castelldefels and Sant Cugat del Vallès near Barcelona.
Out of all these the widest gap has been found in_Alcobendas, where resale properties now cost on average 35% more than brand new homes. In Pinto brand new property is now 25% cheaper and the difference is more than 18% in both Jaén and Ávila.
Nevertheless reports such as this only talk about the average and give an idea of market trends. In reality every case is different and the price of a sale depends
