According to the “Valencian Community Property Market Report” for the fourth quarter of 2022, published by the region’s Association of Real Estate Agents (API), Real Estate Market Analysis Group (GAMERIN) and Association of Real Estate Professionals (APIVA), the average price of new-build homes was €1,841 per m². This is 4.56% more than in the same period of the previous year and an all-time high.
Many experts agree that, despite a possible fall in residential property prices in general, this trend will not affect new builds. Because of rising construction costs, fewer homes will be built, and they will keep getting more expensive.
Of the homes bought in the Valencian Community last year, new builds accounted for only 12.64%, the lowest figure of all the autonomous communities. Meanwhile, 10,851 building permits were issued in the region, 2% more than a year earlier.
This could lead to a “certain shortage” while demand for new homes holds up. In terms of location, new builds generally lose out to resale property, but in the vast majority of cases they beat it on the quality of building materials and energy efficiency.
The cost of building materials rose by an average of 14.3% over the last year, with the biggest increases for plaster (43%), lime (43%), steel (26%) and concrete (20%). As for labour, the year-on-year rise was 2.2%. In a scenario where costs cannot be passed on to buyers, the volume of projects coming onto the market will fall.
