Welcome to 2025 everyone. As you probably know we regularly write stories about the Valencia Property market to keep you up to date with what is happening on the ground. We always mention the trends we have seen and also the official figures that are being produced and this article will be no different.
So first let's look at what we did this year in terms of sales, locations, prices and nationalities and then we will look at the overall picture reported about the Valencia Property market as a whole. You have to remember that our experience is different to the market as a whole as we have a very different target market that only forms less than 20% of the whole market here, the foreign one. So grab a coffee or your beverage of choice, sit back, relax and take a look.
Sales
Year on year we increased our number of sales by 5% and this came on the back of our most successful year ever, 2023. The average sales price also increased by 30% meaning, of course, that once more we have had our most successful year ever. This does not however mean that prices rose by 30% of course, we just worked with more higher budget clients especially those looking for the Golden Visa. Equally and just like last year there were fewer investment clients and our decision as a company to stop working with investors for Airbnb obviously had an effect.
Locations
Of course the majority of our sales continue to be in Valencia but this year 58% of our sales were made in the city compared with 64% last year. The second most popular place was L'Eliana to the north west of the city at 16% of sales and then there were an equal number of sales in Denia and Torrente with 5% each. Other places we sold include La Pobla de Vallbona, Ribarroja, San Antonio de Benageber, La Cañada, Burjassot, Cheste, Chiva and even Pego.
Surprisingly we had no sales this year in four very popular areas where we normally sell well, Betera, Naquera, Serra and Lliria. This was because of two reasons, a lack of demand in those areas from our clients but most of all a total lack of supply of suitable properties, to which we will return later.
Nationalities
Our number one nationality for purchases was the USA with 34% of our sales. The UK was a close second this year with 28%. 13% came from the Netherlands in third place and the remaining 25% were distributed between 14 other countries including Australia, Lithuania, Hungary, Japan, Ireland, Peru, Spain (Of course), France, Denmark, Pakistan, Turkey, Canada, China and Romania.
Last year, 2023, 72% of our sales were made to people from the States and the UK and this year that figure is just 62% showing the increasing spread of nationalities interested in Valencia Property and our reach. As expected our Dutch sales increased significantly this year with the advent of our Dutch language site but we didn't see the expected influx from Argentina still despite Milei. Or maybe it's just that they stick with the Spanish language sites.
Types of Property
65% of sales were for apartments, 32% for villas with their own gardens and plots and just 3% for the criminally overlooked townhouses, down from 14% last year. Of course the majority of sales of apartments were in Valencia City itself but there were others in Torrent, La Pobla de Vallbona and Burjassot among others.
There were no sales of townhouses in the city of Valencia itself and that means none of those lovely houses in El Cabanyal which have previously been so popular. Why? Well a total lack of supply of course. We only got to list two I believe and both of them sold before we even had a chance to get people round there visiting.
Equally, we have made just as many sales this year of properties needing some form of renovation as we have in previous years and our sister company Valencia Remodels has been extremely busy all year and has recently taken on a lot more staff to cope with demand. The majority of our sales of villas have been made with the idea of buying good bones and renovating or retrofitting to modern standards.
However there is one thing to bear in mind after the floods at the end of October and that is if you have a small job then expect it to be difficult to find companies to do the work and to have to pay more to get their attention. There is so much damage to the south of the city that guaranteed payments from insurance companies are a very attractive proposition for reform companies and individual builders, electricians, plumbers etc... allowing them to plan their workflows accordingly.
Financing
The numbers of clients asking for mortgages surprisingly didn't rise this year when interest rates fell as we expected they would. However one of the main reasons for this was the continued existence of the Golden Visa which required the 500k to be paid in full without finance and our sales largely involving the Golden Visa. We will see if numbers increase in 2025 when the GV disappears. The average mortgage rate that was given was around 3% over the year after bonuses were applied with an intial 3.5-3.75%. However those numbers dropped near the end of the year with one client getting a rate of 2.25% fixed after bonuses.
Client Funnel
Our client funnel for 2025 is stronger than it was at the start of 2024 with more sales pending final signing than at this stage last year and plenty of clients waiting to come over to find their own place along with clients visiting for the second or third time to wrap up their purchase. As usual we already have people booked in well into the New Year so it's best to arrange your visits with us as far in advance as possible and the best way to do that is to fill in the following form with your requirements and contact us. We will get back to you and start making preparations. Also check out the article below, just click on the image, to see how to fill out the form.
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The Valencia Property Market
Prices in Valencia City rose by 22.8% (Or 24%) last year depending on which stats you follow! Whichever way you look at it that is a huge rise, the highest in Spain. Apparently asking prices in La Zaidia, which we have been recommending for quite a few years, have risen by 36% in the last year which is the highest for any area (And of course, absolutely ridiculous and unsustainable!). Nevertheless, the demand for property in the capital continues to be huge so we expect prices to continue to rise especially with interest rates dropping and rental prices continuing to rise and becoming unattainable for many people. When it's cheaper to buy with a mortgage than rent of course demand increases.
The rise in the Valencia province is an average of 14.6% which is also notable. Of course places closer to the city have risen by more than places further away as people wanting to buy in the city but without the budget to do so tend to buy in the areas closer to Valencia itself and with good metro and public transport connections, Torrente is a good example of this as are all of the places to the north and west of the city on the metro and train lines.
The Lack of Supply
There is a continuing and growing problem in Valencia and Spain as a whole and that is a lack of supply. There are various reasons for this, some national and some local issues:
- Not enough new builds are being constructed
- Not enough new builds are in the planning stage
- There is not enough affordable accommodation available
- People on very low interest fixed rate mortgages do not want or need to move
- The floods to the south of the city
- Spain's population is growing. 1.2m people have moved into the country in the last two years.
- Family atomization means they are more family units now. Fewer people are living in multi generational houses. (The blue line on the graph below represents households created, the other two lines are builds started in the last two years and builds finished)
- The eternal problem of Airbnb and short term rentals
- The difficulty in reclassifying commercial property as residential
None of these issues are likely to change any time soon meaning the extra demand and lack of supply along with the lowering of interest rates and availability of finance will continue to push prices northwards.
Expectations for 2025
We expect to continue selling strongly in 2025 but we believe that our average sale value as a company will reduce as the effects of the ending of the Golden Visa creep into the system. People who previously wanted to get the GV and therefore would pay 500k may be able to find something that suits them at under 500k so will not need to make the extra financial commitment and that extra cash can be used to apply for any of the other available visas. As a result of this, the higher prices and lower interest rates we expect many more people to look for mortgages when buying.
Equally, we expect the absolute sh*tstorm that will embrace the USA as tariffs hit, the clownshow continues, and the corrosive influence of the illegal immigrant, South African Emerald mine inheriting, nepo baby ruins the US economy to have a double edged sword effect. One, we will find that our funnel of clients wanting to escape the States grows exponentially. Two, we expect there to be some sort of economic effect the World over because when the United States catches a cold the rest of the World tends to get the flu.
Also, as normal, any number of Black Swan events could occur. Climate change may mean more extreme weather events all over the World and climate refugees even within countries may well move internally or externally. Events in Ukraine and the Middle East might mean great changes in who is coming to Spain and elections in many countries might also mean changes. Equally, it might be a quiet year with nothing really happening....
What are your expectations for 2025? Do they tally with ours?
Whatever happens we expect 2025 to be one of those years that is described in the Chinese curse as "Interesting times". It won't be boring.
The End of the Golden Visa
We started the year with an emergency blog on Friday after the announcement, finally, of the ending of the Golden Visa programme. You can read the article here and what it means to you but if you want to get it then it's time to get a move on. It's still possible.
Our Xmas Giveaway Book
Before Xmas we gave away our free PDF with the collection of our best descriptions from the last twelve months or so. You can read it below. The results of the Quiz will be out next week but you still have a last chance to enter. Go over to the post here and fill in the entry form.
The Valencia Property Collection 2024 by Graham Hunt on Scribd
If You Liked This...
Then it's time to read some more Valencia Property goodness. just click on the images below.
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