The average mortgage contract signed in Malaga province so far this year has a value of almost 209,000 euros, which represents a 10% increase … compared to the average housebuying loan taken out 12 months ago, when it stood at less than 190,000 euros. The average Malaga mortgage is, therefore, the third highest in the country, only behind those taken out in the Balearic Islands (approximately 274,000 euros on average, after a 17% year-on-year increase) and in Madrid (235,000 euros, after rising by 33%). It is actually the latter province, with the sharp increase in the average value of the loans signed there, that has unseated Malaga from second place, the position it held at the same time last year in this provincial ranking done by the value of mortgages signed.
The data comes from statistics published last Friday by Spain’s INE national statistics institute. The INE also reports that the average mortgage loan signed in the country is around 156,000 euros and has gone up by nearly 14% compared to the same time last year. At the other extreme in the provincial ranking is Ciudad Real. This province in the region of Castilla-La Mancha has the lowest average home loan in the country at around 85,000 euros. Meanwhile, in the Andalucía region, the lowest mortgage amount is in Jaen, where less than 93,000 euros on average are borrowed.
The official data also shows that, between January and May, 8,860 mortgages were signed in Malaga, representing an increase of nearly 23% compared to the total taken out a year earlier. Rising house prices and the loan amount needed to finance such a purchase has not slowed the rate of mortgage signings. A few days ago, it was also confirmed that residential property sales are also enjoying good health in the Costa del Sol province, although at a growth rate that is slower than in Spain as a whole, where numbers are approaching those times when the 2008 housing bubble was emerging.
Across Spain, over 201,000 mortgages were signed between January and May, an increase of 23% compared to the same period last year.
Cash purchases
A curious fact: while Malaga is the fifth province in terms of home sales numbers, it is sixth in terms of mortgage signings, coming behind Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Alicante and Seville. A key factor in this is that, on the Costa del Sol, cash purchases remain very important (although cash is no longer king overall): the 8,860 mortgages signed so far this year must be compared with the 15,672 house deals closed in the same period. This means that practically half (44%, to be precise) of the homes bought in the province are still paid for in cash, without resorting to a bank loan. While this is the case in this province, there are fewer cash purchases across the rest of Spain – just one third – as the mortgage market accounts for more than 67% of the country’s residential property deals.