House prices fall through the whole of Spain

THE price of a new house has fallen in the capitals of every province in Spain for the first time in a decade.
The average decrease in the price of a new house or apartment in the first six months of the year was 1.2 percent, which means that the average cost of a square metre is now 2'871 euros.

During the last six months of 2007, house prices rose 1.1 percent.
During the first six months of last year, they rose 4 percent.
In the Balearics, the price of a new house has fallen by 1.4 percent.
The greatest decrease in the average cost of a new house during the first half of the year was in the Canaries (-4.7 percent), followed by Murcia, Navarra and Aragon (-2.8 percent), La Rioja (-1.5 percent) and the Balearics, Cantabria and Madrid (-1.4 percent).

The only increases in the average cost of a new house were in Extremadura (0.2 percent) and Galicia (0.1 percent).
Barcelona continues to be the most expensive city in Spain in which to buy a new house (4'527 euros per square metre), followed by Madrid (3'916 euros per square metre).

The cheapest cities are Badajoz in Extremadura (1'525 euros per square metre) and Lugo in Galicia (1'547 euros per square metre).