Spain house prices increase 0.8 per cent in q2

Spanish house prices posted its first annualized increase in six years, in the latest signal of the country’s continued economic recovery. In the second quarter of 2014, prices climbed 0.8 per cent from a year-ago period, according to data from the country’s National Statistics Institute. Monday’s result comes as Spain’s finance minister provided a preliminary projection of higher economic growth for the country that has just emerged a year ago from its second recession in the past five years. Spain’s overall housing prices have tumbled 35 per cent over the past six years. However, since the economy emerged from a nine-quarter-long recession last year, it has been gaining momentum, resulting to higher demand for Spanish assets, including property. Prices of newly built homes climbed the most, rising by 1.9 per cent. Meanwhile, prices of other properties gained 0.2 per cent, the biggest gain since the fourth quarter of 2007, according to gantdaily.com