ARCHIVED - Murcia promoters anticipate resurgence of the Costa Cálida property market

Newbuild licence numbers expected to double this year as Murcia emerges strongly from the Covid crisis

As Spain begins to emerge from the coronavirus crisis the residential property promoters of the Region of Murcia are confident that a new era of prosperity is about to begin, according to an article published over the weekend by regional newspaper La Verdad.

Representatives of the APIRM promoters’ association are quoted as anticipating that the level of residential construction activity this year will be double that of 2020 as efforts are stepped up to meet the demand which has accumulated during the 12 years since the dramatic slump in the market which followed the boom in the early years of this millennium. Already building licences were granted for 799 new homes during the first quarter of this year, more than double the 380 in the equivalent period in 2020, and it is expected that by the end of 2021 the figure will have risen to between 3,200 and 3,400.

The year-on-year comparison will of course be distorted by the effects of the initial coronavirus lockdown and subsequent restrictions during 2020, but at the same time it has already been seen that the market in Murcia has been relatively unaffected by Covid. Prices are largely stable, and during the first quarter of 2021 sales were almost 10 per cent higher than last year.

In this context it is believed that there is demand not only for second-hand homes but also new-builds, and construction projects are beginning or re-starting all over the Region at present, not just in the main cities of Murcia and Cartagena but also on the coast.

Over the last 30 years the data regarding building licences in Murcia graphically illustrates the roller-coaster ride of the Spanish property market. During the 1990s around 12,000 new homes were granted licences per year, a figure which rose to over 50,000 in 2006 and 47,000 in 2007.

After that, though, came the slump, with figures falling to 15,000 in 2008, under 5,000 in 2009 and all the way down to an average of 1,400 over the last decade.