House prices have risen considerably in recent years and the first signs of overvaluation are starting to appear in cities such as Madrid and Barcelona, as well as some tourist spots. But the situation is very different in less urban areas, where the recovery in the real estate sector began later and is much slower. As a result, regional divergences in the price and affordability of housing are widening.
The gap between the price that homeowners are requesting and what buyers are willing to pay has grown in the last 12 months. According to the latest supply and demand report from piso.com. In 2020 sellers offered a standard apartment for an average price of 137,520 euros, while buyers had a budget of 97,500 euros. The difference was 40,020 euros, 640 euros more than the previous year.
According to the real estate portal, the distance between both parties has grown mainly due to the fact that what the 'future owner' is willing to pay has not changed from one year to the next, while on the other hand, the offering has become slightly more expensive. So, if the gap between the seller's price and that of the buyer was 40% in 2019, in 2020 it has climbed to 41%. This is the third-highest percentage difference since piso.com began this comparison (2009 - 55% and 2010 - 47%).
According to Ferran Font, director of research for piso.com, "the new 'normal' has allowed the real estate market to resume its dynamics, but the destruction of employment and 'cautious demand' have prevented it from returning to pre-crisis figures." He points out that “the cuts in house prices are being absorbed little by little, above all, because there is an important cushion of government aid that will be expanded thanks to European funds. This support will mitigate greater evils, which is why the distance that exists at this time between the market prices and what one is willing to pay has hardly changed ”. In any case, Font warns that "the confidence of the demand, greatly damaged by the pandemic, will be the one that sets the pace."
Two autonomous communities reduced their 'starting budget' when looking for a house to purchase (Madrid and Navarra) and another two raised theirs (the Balearic Islands and La Rioja). The highest starting price was in the Basque Country with an average of 247,500 euros. On the reverse side, buyers in Aragon, Asturias, Castilla-La Mancha, Valencian Community, Extremadura and Murcia searched for flats for 67,500 euros on average. The autonomous regions where supply and demand were closer were Navarra (-4%), Basque Country (0%) and Castilla-La Mancha (5%). The greatest imbalances occurred in the Canary Islands (63%), Asturias (54%), Madrid (51%) and the Valencian Community (51%).
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