THE PRICE
The Costa del Sol was no exception to the falloff in prices. Of the nine Costa municipalities included in the study, six showed price drops in the fourth quarter. These included some of the biggest drops in the study, such as a 7.8 per cent dive in Mijas Costa, a 2.7 per cent decrease in Fuengirola and a drop of 2.2 per cent in Torremolinos. Other towns showed more modest decreases, including Benalmádena, down 0.9 per cent, and Marbella and Málaga, both down 0.1 per cent.
Prices rise in two local towns
Of the Costa del Sol towns in the study, only two showed price increases, Rincón de la Victoria, up 4.0 per cent,
Other Andalucía municipalities showing price drops included the city of Granada, down 2.5 per cent; the Cádiz towns of Algeciras (-2.1 per cent), Jerez de la Frontera (-1.5 per cent) and Rota (-2.1 per cent); and Isla Cristina on the Huelva coast (-2.8 per cent). Some provincial capitals saw increases, including Sevilla, up 2.2 per cent, Almería (0.7 per cent) and Córdoba (0.6 per cent), while comparative data was not available for Cádiz, Huelva or Jaén.
Only fourth quarter price changes
For all of the Andalucía towns, the data reflects only price changes for the fourth quarter, not year-on-year figures, because the region has only been included in the study since the second quarter of 2007. Barcelona and Madrid, which have been included since 2000, showed year-on-year price drops of 2.0 per cent and 0.3 per cent, respectively.