Spain: Housing permits decline for seventh straight month in July; housing prices fall for first time in over five years
The Spanish Board of Architects approved 6,143 new construction permits in July, according to data published by the Ministry of Public Works. The figure was well below the 11,967 permits granted in July 2019 and slightly below the 6,538 permits granted in June. On an annual basis, permits plunged 48.7% in July, following June’s 30.9% drop and marking the seventh consecutive month of decline.
Meanwhile, the moving three-month sum of permits totaled 18,749 in July, which represented a hefty 39.4% fall from the same period in 2019 and followed the 41.7% dive recorded in June. The current number of permits represents a mere fraction of the 268,266 permits granted during the July–September 2006 peak amid a booming housing market in the leadup to the Great Recession.
In Q2 2020, the general index of housing prices produced by the Ministry of Public Works dropped 1.7% year-on-year to EUR 1,610 per square meter. The fall contrasted the 0.3% uptick logged in Q1 and marked the first fall in prices since Q1 2015. The price per square meter is well below the EUR 2,101 peak that was recorded in Q1 2008.