November home price rise unaffected by Catalunya dispute

Overall, home values rose on average by 1.2% between October and November this year, showing that property market recovery remains consistent.

Only three regions saw a fall in second-hand property values – the northern federal communities of Galicia and Asturias, where prices dropped by 0.8% and 0.5% respectively, and the land-locked western region of Extremadura, which saw a 0.3% decrease.

No change was seen in the last month in the inland regions of La Rioja, in the north or Castilla-La Mancha, in the centre.

In some cases, house price rises were well above the 1.2% average – Catalunya's homes went up in value the most, by 2.5%, whilst those in the Canary Islands rose by 2%, properties in Madrid by 1.5% and in the Balearics by 1.3%.

Below-average increases in pre-owned home prices were recorded in the northern coastal community of Cantabria, where they went up by 0.9%; in Valencia, Andalucía and the Basque Country, which saw rises of 0.8%; in Navarra, with a 0.7% hike; in Murcia and Aragón, by 0.2%, and in Castilla y León, by 0.1%.

Madrid continues to be the region with the most expensive homes, at €2,540 per square metre, followed by the Basque Country at €2,524 and the Balearic Islands at €2,433.

The lowest home prices are in Castilla-La Mancha, where residential property costs an average of €902 per square metre – meaning a standard three-bedroom apartment would come in at €90,200, for example – followed by Extremadura, where the average price is €936 per square metre, and Murcia, where the typical cost is about €1,019 per square metre.

The three provinces with the highest pre-owned home price rises in November compared with October were Barcelona (up by 2.4%), Girona (up by 2.2%), Las Palmas – which makes up half the Canary Islands, including Gran Canaria – rising by 2.1%, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the other half of the Canary Islands, by 1.9% and Cuenca (Castilla-La Mancha) by 1.8%.

The greatest falls in value were found in the centre-northern region of Castilla y León in the provinces of Ávila, with a drop of 2%, and Soria, decreasing by 1.8%, followed by the central-Spain province of Ciudad Real, with a reduction of 1.3%.

According to Idealista's figures for the end of November, the provinces where homes were most expensive were Guipúzcoa, whose capital is San Sebastián, and Vizcaya, of which the capital is Bilbao, both in the Basque Country, and where a second-hand residential property will set buyers back by €2,750 and €2,599 per square metre respectively.

Madrid follows at €2,540, and Barcelona at €2,495.

The cheapest province to buy a property in is Toledo (Castilla-La Mancha) at €782 per square metre, followed by Ávila (Castilla y León) at €814 and Ciudad Real (Castilla-La Mancha) at €842.

Idealista's figures show that the Catalunya political crisis has not affected property values – in fact, those in the Costa Brava area and in Barcelona have seen some of the highest increases in the country in the two months since the disputed independence referendum.