According to the latest data released by the Spanish Ministry of Development, the first quarter of 2013 has registered never-before-seen prices for urban land, with the average price crashing to just €157sqm, and the number of transactions for urban land totalling just 2,801.

The new price represents a drop of 11.5% year-on-year (in 2012 it was €178sqm) but, more worryingly, land prices have crashed by 16% in the last quarter alone (€187sqm in Q4 2012).

This drop has unwound the favourable results recorded at the end of last year when land values rose for the first time since 2007.

Furthermore, this is the lowest price per square metre to be recorded since statistics began in 2004, and current prices are well down (-45%) from the peak in Q3 2007 of €285sqm.

By region, the biggest drop in Q1 was registered in Cantabria, which fell by 55% year-on-year to just €66sqm. Navarra was next, falling by 44%, to €123sqm. In Madrid, the price dropped a further 15%.

The highest prices were recorded in the municipalities of over 50,000 inhabitants in the provinces of Barcelona (€569sqm), Zaragoza (€485sqm), Madrid (€454sqm) and the Balearic Islands (€397sqm).