Families Spent More on Housing in 2011
February 2nd, 2012
In 2011, families dedicated 29.1% of their gross income, counting deductions, on housing, which is almost two percentage points more than a year earlier, when this figure stood at 27.3%, according to data from the Bank of Spain.
This increase is striking since, according to the Ministry of Development, during the past year the average price of private housing fell by 6.8%, which, in principle, should have reduced the amount for this expenditure in household budgets.
The Bank of Spain statistics indicate that, for its part, the deduction for home purchases, which last year was limited to incomes of up to 24,000 euros per year, served to reduce the wage effort of families to below the 33% recommended by the State Plan for Housing and Rehabilitation 2009-2012.
So, without the benefit of this tax relief, households spent up to 36.1% of their gross income to the end of 2011, up to seven percentage points more. In this case, the increase over the fourth quarter of 2010 was 2.3 percentage points despite the price cuts.
Europa Press reported that the Government has approved in general the reinstatement of the deduction for the purchase of a main residence, although the G-14 group of major real estate agents, as well as the Association of Spanish Promoters and Constructors (APCE), have claimed that this also extends to second homes.
Related Posts
- Price of New Housing Fell 4% in 2011
- Banesto Performance Hit by Housing Slump
- Housing Market in ‘Final Stage’ of Recovery
