Spanish housing nightmare fades as buying picks up
Economic recovery helps entice buyers back into the housing market where prices have slumped since 2007 peak
Within the ashes left by Spain's real estate crash, some embers are glowing.
As the recovery in the euro-region's fourth-largest economy extends and its record unemployment subsides, the property market whose slump locked the country into a recession is showing signs of life. While home-price data is not yet signalling a turnaround, an increase in sales indicates values may be starting to stabilise.
The market is now safe enough for Stanislas de Bellescize, a 44-year-old computer programmer who recently took the plunge and bought a house two subway stops from the affluent Salamanca district in downtown Madrid. More such decisions would offer Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy the prospect of a further pillar on which to build Spain's revamped economy after more than half a decade of misery.
"We thought this is the right moment," said de Bellescize, who has found new work after losing his previous job last year. "There is still room to negotiate prices."
First-quarter house prices and mortgage approvals for March are due to be published on May 28. In a survey, economists forecast that the data will show the smallest decline in values since 2010.
Evidence of green shoots in the market are emerging. Spain's General Council of Notaries said earlier this month that home sales jumped more than 45 per cent in the first quarter from a year earlier.
