ARCHIVED - Costa Cálida property market held up well during the first year of pandemic

Market value rose in 4 coastal municipalities and sales figures increased in Águilas

Leading Spanish property valuation firm Tinsa has published its review of the market in coastal regions of Spain during the first quarter of 2021, reaching the conclusion that in general terms the market for holiday homes and second residences resisted the effects of the Covid pandemic better than the first residence market during the first year of the coronavirus crisis.

The Tinsa reports compares sales figures and the market value of property in the first three months of 2021 with the same period last year, which mostly preceded the first coronavirus lockdown in Spain on 14^th March 2020. As a result it is feasible to expect a drop in the 2021 figures due to the tightening of pandemic restrictions in the New Year, but it seems that in coastal areas this is far less marked than further inland and in major cities.

The Region of Murcia is a case in point. According to Tinsa, the market value of residential property in the Region as a whole has dropped by 4.4 per cent, but the opposite is the case in various coastal municipalities with increases observed in Águilas (+9.8 per cent), Lorca (+5.3 per cent), Cartagena (+1.5 per cent) and San Javier (+1.4 per cent).

Minimal downward trends are reported in Mazarrón (-1.1 per cent) and Los Alcázares (-2.2 per cent), and only in La Unión (-4.5 per cent) and San Pedro del Pinatar (-7.2 per cent) is the drop more pronounced than the regional average.

In terms of sales figures for the whole of 2020, the heavy reliance on non-Spanish buyers led to significant decreases in Los Alcázares (-36.8 per cent), Mazarrón (-27.6 per cent) and San Pedro del Pinatar (29.1 per cent) due to the prolonged shutdowns of international travel. Despite the circumstances, though, in both Águilas and La Unión there were actually more transactions than in 2019!

Of the 63 areas analysed by Tinsa on all of Spain’s coasts, 29 are reported to have seen a similar level activity in 2020 to that of the year before, while in the remainder there were marked decreases. However, improvement is expected almost across the board in 2021 and a “moderate” recovery is reported to be under way in 42 of the areas identified.

Despite the international travel restrictions sales last year were higher than in 2019 in 19 coastal municipalities, including Águilas and La Unión, while the highest sales figures are reported in Torrevieja (3,428) and Orihuela (2,841) in the southern Costa Blanca.