Canaries need more than seven years of salary to acquire a home - La Provincia

Canaries need more than seven years of salary - specifically 7.2 - to be able to acquire a house, the same number as in the last quarter of 2017, according to the latest dataReal Estate Sector Trends Reportperformed by ST Sociedad de Tasación, which places the average price of new housing on the islands at 1,524 euros per square meter at the end of 2018.

In Spain, theaverage price of new housingincreased by 5.4% in provincial capitals at the end of 2018, which placed the average price per square meter at 2,348 euros.

Between July and December, the price registered an increase of 2.8%, below the increase of 3.3% recorded in the second half of 2017. According to the report, the average price of a house in the provincial capitals of some 90 square meters round 211,300 euros.

In the rest of cities that are not provincial capitals, the average price per square meter of a new house has been located at the end of 2018 at 1,632 euros per square meter, representing an increase of 3.3% compared to December of 2017.

By autonomous communities,Catalonia(3,719 euros per square meter) has been ranked as the Community with the highest prices, followed by Madrid (3,304 euros) and the Basque Country (2,657 euros).

On the opposite side, betweenregions with the lowest pricesExtremadura (1,171 euros per square meter), Murcia (1,296 euros) and La Rioja (1,393 euros per square meter) have been located.

By provinces, Barcelona (4,178 euros per square meter), San Sebastián (3,515 euros) and Madrid (3,404 euros) continued to exercise, according to ST Sociedad de Valuation, "a driving effect in the increase of the prices of the national territory".

By contrast, Cáceres (1,159 euros per square meter), Badajoz (1,178 euros) and Ciudad Real (1,182 euros) have been in 2018 the capitals that have shown the lowest prices.

CONFIDENCE IN THE SECTOR DECREASES

Thereal estate confidence indexof Appraisal Company has decreased for the second consecutive quarter in the last quarter of the year and stood at 57 points out of a maximum of 100. This index reached its lowest value in the historical series (30.6 points) in December 2012 .

On the other hand, the report highlights that in the last quarter of 2018 a citizen needed to spend 7.6 years to buy a house, which is two and a half months more effort than a year ago to buy the same property .

By regions, the Balearic Islands (15.4 years) has continued to be the Autonomous Community where it takes more years to access a home, compared to La Rioja, which remains the region where it is easier to access a home.

Refering toindebtedness capacityto acquire a home, it has decreased in 2018. The average in Spain currently stands at 102 points, with a reference of 100 points in cases where the debt capacity is sufficient, two points less than in 2017.

THE RENTABILITY OF THE RENT REACHES 8.12%

With respect torental, the study highlights that the average profitability of a house for rent in Spain stood at 8.12% at the end of the year, compared to 7.29% the previous year.

By provinces, Granada, Guipúzcoa and Pontevedra stand out with an annual variation compared to December 2017 of 15.6%, 15.3% and 13%, respectively. On the contrary, the provinces of Barcelona, ​​La Rioja and Baleares presented negative variations of 6.9%, 6.2% and 3.4%, respectively.

Besides, thepurchase option for rentalcontinues to present itself as a "very attractive" investment opportunity, being Valencia, Seville, Granada and Salamanca, which present the highest performance in terms of rental income and real estate risk.