Rental boom:

Rental prices rose in Spain by 0.8% in November 2017, according to the latest data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE), linking 13 months of increases. According to the figures that idealista portal manages, the price of housing for rent in Spain rose by 18.4% in 2017.

For Fernando Encinar, head of idealista studies, “2017 has undoubtedly been the year of rental in Spain and one of the main reasons for the takeoff of rent is in employment. And he reflects that” there is a key figure without which this rent phenomenon would not be understood:all the small and medium investors that in the last three years have decided to move their savings from their bank accounts and buy a house in Spain as investment to bring them to the rental market. Neither is it a bubble nor is the investor an evil speculator.

New type of investor who Buy a house in Spain as investment

The profile of the nervous investor who bought a home to sell it soon after with large capital gains that proliferated 10-14 years ago has disappeared from the market. The new investor is more leisurely, calm and assumes the profitability that the rental of the house produces, without selling. ”

In addition, according to the real estate portal Vitrio, buying a home to rent as a holiday residence is becoming a business, and “very profitable.” In the areas with the most influx of tourists in Spain, “this phenomenon is altering the market with a sharp rise in prices that hinders access to housing among those seeking a long-term residence.”

– The price of urban land, in an uptrend:

The latest data from the Ministry of Public Works reflect that the average price per square meter of urban land grew by 7.8% in the third quarter of last year 2017, up to 162 euros.

In municipalities with more than 50,000 inhabitants, the average price per square meter rose by 5.6% year-on-year, after standing at 287.5 euros per square meter. Alicante and more particularly the Costa blanca south remains the leadership on foreign property purchases.

The list of Spanish areas where the square meter is more expensive is headed by Madrid, with 485.7 euros, followed by Barcelona (447.6 euros) and the Balearic Islands (375.7 euros).

On the other hand, a total of 1,296 municipalities will raise the IBI in 2018. The amount paid annually by homeowners, locals and land in concept of Property Tax (IBI), dependent on the municipalities, will rise in 2018 in 1,296 municipalities Spaniards, while it will decrease in 534 localities, in accordance with the coefficients of updating cadastral values ​​approved last Friday by the Council of Ministers.