For the first time since 2014, Europe's statistics office records a negative annual variation in the price of apartments in the eurozone. Berlin is in shock: housing in Germany has fallen by –9.9% in the second quarter of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022. Denmark (–7.6%), Sweden (–6.8%) are not falling short ) or Finland (–5.6%).
But Spain resists and documents another month of increases (specifically, 3.7%), a slighter increase than in other countries (in Portugal, 8.7%), but which shows a solid strength in the different cities in the country.
The property stock cannot meet demand, and especially “if we combine the shortage of new construction and public housing with a super-regulated market,” recalls Sergi Campos, operations manager in Housfy's sales department.
Between Madrid and Barcelona there are differences in price trends. Madrid exceeds historical highs month after month (€4,056/m² in September, according to Properstar) and housing prices have risen much more rapidly in the last year. Barcelona, despite having higher housing prices (€4,183/m²), has kept them quite stable for five years.
“Barcelona cannot grow in territory,” Sergi Campos theorizes. “It must be structured with the rest of the metropolitan area through efficient public transportation, and we still have to take great steps in that direction,” he adds. New construction visas are also scarce, and they are slow to issue and execute.
Although demand is very high in both, Madrid now seems to be on the podium: “As the capital, Madrid is the great corporate hub of Spain. It concentrates the largest migratory flows from the country itself, attracts more foreign investment and its economy is more dynamic right now,” the real estate specialist clarifies.
The two cities, however, show favorable conditions for selling an apartment currently, as they easily endure the growth spiral thanks to their permanent and committed internal and external demand. This would not happen with other secondary municipalities, where the native population, with salaries stagnant for years, does not have the capacity to catapult their housing prices.
In Europe, increases in the price of apartments have been common since 2008 and had accelerated after the pandemic.
In London, in May 2022, housing was €8,374/m², according to Properstar. A year later, in May 2023, this value had almost doubled (€14,965/m²). The price adjustment had to come sooner or later: as of September 2023, brick in London already stands at €13,707/m², that is, –8.41% less than its maximum in May.
The year-on-year drop in prices in Germany has been the largest in the 21st century. According to Properstar data, in August 2022 the home was worth €6,503/m² and, in the same month of 2023, it was already worth €4,777/m². Although in the city of Berlin the drop has not been as pronounced, the interannual variation is also negative for the same period.
