Monday, 22 July 2024, 11:28
Malaga is in third place in Spain as the province where the average mortgage has risen the most over the last decade. In May, the last month for which figures are available, the average mortgage loan signed in Malaga was close to 188,300 euros, an increase of 88% from just over 100,200 euros in May 2014.
Ahead of Malaga in this ranking are only the Balearic Islands and Las Palmas. In the Balearic archipelago the increase in the value of the average mortgage being taken out has been 145%, rising from 109,500 to 268,140 euros between 2014 and 2024. Meanwhile, in the province of the Canary Islands it has risen by 95% – that is to say, it has practically doubled. Ten years ago the average house loan in the Canaries was around 64,500 euros and this May it is close to 126,000.
The average mortgage taken out in Spain as a whole over the last ten years has increased by 42% from around 100,000 euros in 2014 to around 141,500 euros in the last year. This means that mortgages in Malaga have become twice as expensive as the Spanish average.
Malaga is also in third place as the province where the highest mortgages in Spain were signed in the month of May.
The 188,284 euros that make up the average mortgage loan taken out in Malaga are only surpassed by the 268,138 euros on the Balearic Islands and the 210,150 euros for Madrid.
However, ten years ago, Malaga was in tenth place in the same listings, behind Madrid, the Basque provinces such as Guipúzcoa and Vizcaya, parts of Catalonia such as Barcelona, Lérida and Gerona, as well as the Balearic Islands, Cantabria and Orense. In fact, mortgages signed in Malaga ten years ago were around the Spanish average, which was also around 100,000 euros. On the other hand, in 2024, the average loan in the province is around 35% more expensive than the average in Spain, which is still under 142,000 euros.
Above 2007 levels
Another relevant fact. With this increase in the average mortgage, which is around 90%, it has already surpassed the levels of 2007, that is to say, those of the real estate boom that ended with the economic crash and ongoing crisis from 2008 onwards. The current 188,284 euros average for Malaga is 8.5% above the figures of fifteen years ago when the average loan was less than 175,000 euros. This is in contrast to the price per square metre, which is still somewhat below the bubble-bursting levels of 2007, according to figures from the Ministry of Housing.
In Spain the current average mortgage is still 5% below 2007 levels: the current level of c.141,500 euros contrasts with the just over 150,000 euros from nearly 30 years ago.
Is the brake on? Mortgage signings on the decline
It is clear, therefore, that these figures for mortgages signed in Malaga are what underscore the sharp rise in house prices for the province as a whole, one of the most intense increases in Spain. However, the reality that the National Statistics Institute (INE) has also revealed is that the number of loans being taken out to buy homes continues to fall. These high prices are therefore beginning to have an impact on real estate activity, as was also observed in the property sales data published last week.
In May 1,230 mortgage deals were contracted, a decrease of 27% compared to the figure for the same month the previous year. Malaga is no exception to this downward trend. Mortgage activity has fallen throughout the country – in May 27,435 mortgage loans were signed in Spain, down 18% from 33,558 in 2023.
Here’s a couple more comparisons for good measure. The first: 62% more mortgages are being signed for in the province in 2024 than in 2014. It should not be forgotten that the crisis that erupted in 2008 was still dragging on in that year. As for the second: if we compare current mortgage activity with that of 2007, we can see that the current figure is four times lower. There is a big difference between the 1,230 mortgages taken out in May and the more than 5,400 signed in May 2007.
