The price of housing registers its biggest rise since 2007 despite the slowdown at the end of the year

Neither the historical escalation of the Euribor, nor the economic uncertainty, nor the restrictions of the banks.

Almost none of the factors that mark the recent pace of the real estate market have prevented

from registering the highest year-on-year rise since 2007, an average of 7.4% in 2022, despite the slowdown in the last quarter.

It was only in that final stretch of the year that the impact of the ECB's rate hike and the rise in mortgage prices began to be felt.

Not in vain, between October and December there was a 0.8% decrease in prices compared to the previous quarter, something that had not happened since 2020, according to data published this Wednesday by the National Statistics Institute (INE

.

This final slowdown prevented the rise in housing prices from equaling the rise in average inflation in 2022, which stood at 8.4%.

The behavior of new construction supported a large part of the weight of the increases, since this type of housing became more expensive on average by 7.9% (it had not increased so much since 2007), compared to 7.3% for second hand (its biggest advance in 15 years).

However, both also smoothed the growth of their costs in the fourth quarter of 2022. In the case of second hand, the increase was 5.3% per year, and in the case of new construction, 6.2% , the lowest rate since the same period of 2021.

From the real estate portal

, they put the focus on that drop.

"Although it is common for the price to show a very slight increase or even a fall in the fourth quarter, like that of 2022, in this case, the price decline could indicate the beginning of a moderation in the growth of the cost of housing. In By December 2022, up to four rate hikes had already been carried out by the European Central Bank, and the Euribor was already above 3%.This situation of such a sudden increase in the cost of financing, added to inflationary tensions, is already beginning to have an effect. in the pockets of families, who are losing more and more purchasing power, which influences the demand for purchases, which, although it remains strong, it is likely that a high percentage have already discarded the idea of ​​buying in the short term", explains

, Director of Studies and company spokesperson.

Despite the most recent slowdown, at Fotocasa they do not foresee "significant drops" in the price.

"What is certain is that the tensions between supply and demand will make a correction difficult. Interest in buying still exceeds pre-pandemic levels and the reduction in supply during this past year will make it even more difficult to reach a balance quickly," says Matos. .

Along these lines,

, director of Pisos.com Studies, also points out, who considers that "the forecasts for 2023 are that this trend of increasingly less substantial growth will continue, even reaching falls in those less dynamic markets where there is no strong demand that pushes prices up".

According to his analysis, heterogeneity continues to be the prevailing trend in real estate price statistics since the recovery began in 2015. "Although there are still notable differences between territories, the moderation in price growth is widespread," he says. .

Compared to the end of the previous year, only in Navarra has the increase been higher than in 2021;

The Canary Islands and Cantabria, which grow by more than 8%, lead this statistic, surpassing Madrid, Catalonia or the Balearic Islands, which are the territories that have historically done so.

On the other hand, the market where the price has increased the least has been Extremadura with 2.8%.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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