Vitoria (EFE).- Housing became more expensive in the Basque Country by 6.4% in 2022, the highest increase in 15 years, since its price rose 8.2% in 2007, according to data from the National Statistics Institute (INE). .
Since it began to rise again in 2015, the price of housing in the Basque Country had not registered any growth above 5.4%, which was set in 2018.
In Spain as a whole, the price of housing increased by 7.4% in 2022, also the highest rise since 2007. That year it increased by 9.8%.
In the Basque Country, new housing became more expensive (6.7%) than second-hand (6.3%).
This increase in 2022 occurs after the price in the Basque Country fell by 1.6% in the fourth quarter of the year. It was also the second largest decrease of all the autonomous communities, only behind that registered in La Rioja (-1.9%).
Compared to the period October-December 2021, the price of housing in the Basque Country rose by 4.9% in the last quarter of 2022. It was a price rise below the average increase in Spain, of 5.5%.
Home sales drop in January
On the other hand, the General Council of Notaries has reported today on the sale of homes in Euskadi in January. In the first month of the year, the real estate market contracted by 18.5% compared to January 2022.
In parallel, the granting of mortgages sank by 22.7%, in a context marked by the rise in interest rates and the increase in the cost of financing.
This body has shown the setback both in the purchase of homes and the decrease in prices and mortgage loans. In the case of the Basque Country, these decreases have been much higher than those of the national average.
The drop in the sale of flats in the Basque Country has been the second largest in Spain. Only the Balearic Islands (-27.8%) have a worse record, while the national average stands at -7.3%.
Specifically in the Basque Country, 1,631 sales were registered. By type of dwelling, those of apartments fell by 18.5% year-on-year and those of single-family homes by 18.6%.
Mortgages also fall
As regards mortgage loans for house purchase, they decreased by 22.7%. The national decline was 16.1%.
These loans did not grow in any community. The greatest decreases occurred in Navarra (-27.4%), Castilla y León (-24.6%) and Euskadi (-22.7%).
However, the average amount of these loans increased by 7.5% in the Basque Country compared to the 4.1% decrease in the national average.
As for the price of housing per square meter, it fell by 8.9% year-on-year in the Basque Country in January, while in Spain as a whole it was limited to 1.7%. In ten autonomies there was an increase in housing prices. In the remaining seven, it decreased, especially in Navarra (-21.7%), the Balearic Islands (-20.7%), Extremadura (-9.5%) and the Basque Country (-8.9%).
The falls registered in January occur at a time when interest rates are rising to deal with the escalation of inflation. The notaries already detected falls in sales and in the granting of mortgages in October, but not in the price, when they began to raise rates.