Spain's housing prices increase by 0.7% in Q3

House prices in Spain rose by 0.7 percent in the third quarter for 2013 from the previous three months, the Spanish National Institute of Statistics (INE) said on Monday. This is the first quarterly increase registered since 2010. Housing prices dropped 0.8 percent in the April-June period. According to the INE, prices of new houses increased by 2.3 percent in the third quarter, while prices of second-hand houses rose by 0.1 percent. In annual terms, housing prices decreased by 7.9 percent in the third quarter when compared with the same period in 2012. Housing prices have been falling for 22 consecutive quarters in annual terms since the second quarter in 2008, when the crisis started and housing prices fell by 0.3 percent. The Spanish Minister of Public Works and Transport Ana Pastor said on Monday that Spain's housing market was still changing and emphasized that the Ministry was promoting rental housing market to make it easier for people with economic difficulties to have a decent house.