Spain leads way in Euro property boom

Friday, 31 August 2007 12:00 AM

Spain has shown the strongest growth in average house prices in Europe over the past five years.

Halifax today releases research that states property prices have doubled in the country since 2002, compared to increases of 90 per cent in Britain.

Prices increased by an average of 40 per cent in the eurozone as a whole.

Only Germany, with a fall of five per cent, has seen prices decrease over the period.

In the shorter term Belgium has seen the largest increases in house prices, witnessing an 18 per cent rise in average prices in the previous 12 months.

This is compared to 15 per cent in France, 14 per cent in Spain and 13 per cent in Britain.

However, average house prices across the continent are still low when compared to the UK.

The average property in Spain sells for £150,200. Whereas in France the average price is £119,300 and in Finland the average new home can be had for the bargain price of £92,300.

Only Ireland, 209,300, and the Netherlands, £190,900, have higher average prices than Britain's £187,100 figure.

Further afield the USA has seen house prices fall 1.3 per cent in the past year and the average property in the states now costs £132,600.

In contrast prices in Canada have increased, to the tune of ten per cent, and the average house price is now £132,200.

"UK house prices have risen more rapidly than in its eurozone neighbours over the past five years. House price growth, however, has slowed in the past couple of years compared with the likes of Belgium and France recording bigger increases," commented Tim Crawford, group economist at Halifax.

"Two of the largest economies surveyed - the US and Germany - are the only ones to have seen a fall in house prices."

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