The Ministry of Housing recently published the information on the closed transactions of the different municipalities of the Costa del Sol including Marbella and Benahavis. Additionally, the information coming from Land Registrars of Spain and an estimation of the number of properties for sale acquired from different real estate web portals has also been incorporated to this newsletter to obtain the market trends that are shown below with arrows. It can be said that it is like a summary of how the real estate market is evolving.
A simple analysis shows that the number of properties for sale is going up, in general too much, and the number of closed transactions is going down when compared to the same periods of the previous year. Simplifying even more, increasing supply and decreasing demand. On the information about the closed sales, it has to be specified that the official number refers to signed closing deeds and does not account for those sales of new developments closed on private purchase contracts pending to be signed at Notary after the completion of the works so that can change the analysis slightly. If we refer to second hand properties, the number of closed sales is clearly going down. In fact, we are already seeing articles on national newspapers announcing that same reduction in sales through the whole of Spain (Diario El Mundo). When the offer increases and the demand decreases, in general, the market destabilizes and gets into trouble. The first consequence would be an adjustment on the prices but that effect has not been seen yet clearly. The price index of the last quarter already shows a negative correction but it has been only on the last quarter and it can not yet be called a tendency. What is true is that we have felt a slowing down in the activity in the market in the last months that can be the consequence of the numbers shown here. The investors are more cautious and are the ones that have been moving, in some way, the market of Marbella and Benahavis in the last years.
