With data from the end of 2023, the province of Alicante has recorded a 0.3% decrease in sales and purchases, which shows its strength in the real estate sector, compared to the -8.7% decrease in Spain.

According to the transfer statistics of the National Statistics Institute (INE), 42,320 homes were sold in the province of Alicante between January and October, a very slight year-on-year decrease. This amount represents 50.39% of property sales in the Valencian Community.

Situation of the real estate market in Spain

The Spanish real estate market is slowing down, with a moderation in prices, a reduction in sales (-8.7% at the end of 2023) and a rise in mortgage interest rates.
The monetary policy of the European Central Bank (ECB) has pushed interest rates up to 4.5%
The difficulties in taking out mortgages and financing the purchase of housing means that there are fewer buyers in the market, leading to a reduction in the volume of home sales,
According to Notaries, the number of sales and purchases fell by 14.9% year-on-year in September 2023 (470,584 transactions); data is expected to follow this trend in the last quarter of the year.
However, house prices did not fall, but rose, by 7% y-o-y in the year to November, due to these factors:
  • Inflation: the prices of all products and services, including housing, are rising.
  • Law of supply and demand: demand for housing is higher than supply, so prices rise.
  • Geopolitical instability: Wars in the West (Ukraine, Gaza) lead to uncertainty and increases in construction costs, resulting in a slower pace of residential construction.
  • Legislation: the Right to Housing Act, which delimits stressed areas, with limits on price increases. The law prevents landlords from evicting vulnerable tenants without prior conciliation or arbitration. The legislation has led to a shift from long-stay to short- and medium-term rentals.

Forecasts for the real estate sector in Spain in 2024

Looking ahead to 2024, experts foresee falls in transactions, which could reach, on average, up to 10%.
Solvia anticipates a contraction of close to 8%, while Bankinter analysts foresee a decline of 5%.
Gonzalo Bernardos, professor of economics at the University of Barcelona (UB), points to a potential fall of 10%, although he expects the market to recover in the second half of the year.

Idealista also expects a fall in transactions, as well as a reactivation of part of the demand.

According to the notaries, the accumulated volume of mortgage contracts between January and October amounts to 230,476 operations, with a fall of 23% year-on-year.

In addition to the fall in the signing of new mortgage loans, the year 2023 has also been marked by rises in the Euribor, above 4%, by the boost in mixed mortgages to the detriment of fixed mortgages; by a wave of mortgage changes by households and the early repayment of loans.

Real estate market report in Costa Blanca North

We explain how the price of housing is in the area and our forecast

Forecasts for the property market in Moraira – Costa Blanca North

The Alicante Association of Real Estate Agents forecasts that the property market in the province of Alicante will remain stable during 2024, with figures similar to those of 2023, despite the downward trend in the rest of Spain.
One of the factors for maintaining the pace of sales on the Costa Blanca is due to the fact that more than 43% of sales are made by people of other nationalities, who choose Alicante and the Costa Blanca to live in during their retirement.
The president of COAPI Alicante, Marifé Esteso Rubio, hopes that in 2024,“Alicante will continue to be an ideal province for buying a home, both to live in and for investment“.
Zoila Sanz, API specialising in the Costa Blanca, member of the RAICV with number 1069 and manager of Hispania Homes, highlighted the security provided by the obligatory registration of advisors in the register of Real Estate Agents of the Valencian Community (RAICV).

In her opinion, as a real estate expert in Moraira and Costa Blanca North,“in 2023 real estate transactions have slowed down a little, but even so, the volume of sales and purchases has been good, with many investors, especially Dutch who continue to bet on our area as a safe value.

In 2024, I think the luxury real estate market will become more important

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