Property market improvements NOT in holiday home locations.

 

The Spanish property market expanded in March, up 8.2% year-on-year but rise in transaction volumes is being driven by sales in large cities such as Madrid and Barcelona.

Transaction volumes in most holiday home destinations are still declining according to official statistics from National Institute of Statistics (INE).

In Malaga province for example, the market shrank by 27%, with a 40% collapse in new home sales.

The overall rise of 8.2% in the year to March is drop from the increase of 16% in the year to February. With this week's announcement of severe cuts in public expenditure, the housing market appears still to be on very fragile ground.