17/07/2015
There is some doubt over the exact number of unsold and unoccupied residential properties in the 
Comunidad Valenciana at the moment, with different sources sometimes producing significantly different estimates, but the latest data provided by the Ministry of Development at least suggest that the number fell during 2014.
The figure of 98,087 properties at the end of last year is still a high one, as inevitably it has to be given the excess supply which resulted from the construction and property boom in the early years of this century, but nonetheless it represents a 3.1% decrease on the total from the year before. This represents an improvement in the situation, but there are significantly more unoccupied properties here than in any other region of Spain: in fact, over 18% of all unsold homes in Spain are in the provinces of Castellón, Alicante and Valencia.
The two provinces most seriously affected are without a doubt Alicante and Castellón. In Alicante the total of over 44,000 is the second highest in the whole country – marginally behind Barcelona – and 3.45% of all homes are unoccupied, while in Castellón the total is lower at 27,275 but the proportion of unsold homes is 6.45%, the highest in the whole country.
In other words, in Spain as a whole almost 1 in 50 of all homes are unoccupied, but in Castellón the equivalent proportion is around 1 in 15 (as opposed to 1 in 29 in Alicante and a relatively healthy 1 in 55 in the province of Valencia).
The main conclusion to be drawn from the data issued this week by the Ministry of Development is that the situation regarding the excess supply of housing in the Comunidad Valenciana is improving, but it has to be said that in Alicante and Castellón the figures are distorted by the amount of coastal development which was undertaken and which resulted in the proliferation of properties which are now very difficult to sell.
This does not mean that the market is unhealthy – in fact, the Costa Blanca is leading the national recovery in many ways – but that the pool of unsold and currently unsellable properties continues to affect the statistics in these areas, while in fact there are more sales being made in other niches of the market.
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