February 26, 2015

In December, the Spanish Board of Architects (Colegio de Arquitectos Tecnicos) granted 1,866 new construction permits, according to data published by the Ministry of Public Works (Ministerio de Fomento). The figure was below the 2,146 permits approved in November and marked the lowest level since August 2013. On an annual basis, permits contracted 35.3%, which was a notable decline from the 13.7% decrease recorded in the previous month.



As a result of the monthly figure, the moving three-month sum of permits totaled 7,280 in December, which represents a 11.2% decrease over the same period of the previous year. The figure notably contrasted the 10.5% increase tallied in November. The current level is a mere fraction of the 268,266 permits that were granted during the July-September 2006 peak.



In Q4, the general index of housing prices produced by the Ministry of Public Works dropped 0.3% year-on-year to EUR 1,463 per square meter. The decline was up from the 2.6% fall recorded in Q3 and marked the weakest drop since Q3 2008. Nevertheless, the price per square meter remains well below the EUR 2,101 peak that was recorded in Q1 2008.