Spain: Housing permits recover in the final month of 2019
The Spanish Board of Architects approved 8,072 new construction permits in December 2019, according to data published by the Ministry of Public Works. The figure was above both the 7,599 permits granted in December 2018 and the 6,896 permits granted in November. On an annual basis, permits rose 6.2% in December, rebounding from November’s 25.5% plunge.
The moving three-month sum of permits totaled 24,309 in December, which represented a 4.4% drop from the same period in 2018 and followed the 2.2% dip recorded in November. The current number of permits represents a mere fraction of the 268,266 permits that were granted during the July–September 2006 peak.
In Q4 2019, the general index of housing prices produced by the Ministry of Public Works rose 2.1% year-on-year to EUR 1,652 per square meter. The increase was below the third quarter’s 3.1% climb and marked the softest rise in two years and a half. The price per square meter is well below the EUR 2,101 peak that was recorded in Q1 2008.