Encouraging news from one of Europe’s hardest-hit economies: after 24 quarters of declines, Spanish housing prices have now registered three straight quarters of year-over-year gains. Spain hasn’t been on a streak like this since late 2007-early 2008.
Today’s release wasn’t all good news. In the Navarre region, for instance, home prices fell 6.9% and 4.2% for the third and fourth quarters respectively. And the country’s ongoing foreclosure crisis remains a huge national issue.
But Spain has spent the past few years yo-yo-ing in and out of recession, and its unemployment rate is still deep into the double digits. In that kind of environment, even minor victories are appreciated.