Spainish Property Buyers Look Inland

Buyers in Spain are looking inland for genuine Spanish settings and better deals, according to the latest trends report from Kyero.com, the property site. Country homes accounted for 27 percent of the searches on the site, compared to only seven percent for apartments.

“People are looking for the authentic Spanish, rural, get away from it all experience,” said Kyero co-owner Martin Dell.

Overall, Dell believes government numbers showing increases in values in the past year don’t accurately reflect the market. “We think that prices have been flat for the past two or three years,” Dell said.

The real troubles in Spain’s housing market are in the past, he said, but there will be little improvement in the next year. “I’m not totally pessimistic about it,” he said. “But I think the best we can expect in the next couple of years is a flat market.”

Kyero’s report on 2007 trends includes data from the Ministry of Housing, which shows an 8 percent drop in the number of transactions. But foreign buyers accounted for only about 10 percent of the sales tracked by the ministry.

Kyero’s numbers are based on asking prices, which is effective for tracking trends. Some of the other tidbits from the 2007 report:

* Based on its database of median asking prices, Kyero showed the biggest price gain in Huelva, which jumped 27.4 percent in 2007, followed by Asturias with a 25.8 percent gain.

* The biggest declines were in Cadiz, which saw a price drop of 14 percent, and Fuerteventura which dipped 9.2 percent.

* The national average price was €246,000, with Barcelona and Mallorca the most expensive areas. Sevilla and Granada were among the locations that fell below the national average.