Cost of housing goes through the roof

The Balearics was the region of Spain in 2003 which suffered the second highest price rise in the country in terms of new housing.
Figures show it went up by 19.9 percent over and above that registered for the previous year. The Islands were superseded only by the area of La Rioja on the Peninsula where the cost of new housing went up by 21.2 percent. A report issued yesterday by a Valuation Society confirmed that house prices have increased six-fold since 1985.
According to the study, since this date, homes have undergone an average annual price increase of 11 percent.
The rise in 2003, which in fact supersedes by one percent the percentage increase registered in 2002, was applicable to all regional capitals.
Only five (Santa Cruz de Tenerife, León, Orense, Murcia and Vitoria) witnessed increases less than 10 percent.
The rise in the price of homes reached 18.6 percent in towns with more than 100'000 inhabitants, where the price of a square metre stood at 1'462 euros; and 17.3 percent (1'321 euros per square metre) in towns listing more than 50'000 inhabitants. Following behind La Rioja and the Balearics in terms of steepness of house price rises, came Extremadura showing an increase of 19.6 percent; Aragón 19.6 percent; and Navarra with 17.4 percent. There were, however, seven regions registering house price rises lower than the national average.