Spanish property market shows signs of recovery

[MADRID] Within the ashes left by Spain's property crash, some embers are glowing.

As the recovery in the euro region's fourth-largest economy continues and record unemployment subsides, the property market whose slump had locked the country into a recession is showing signs of life. While home price data isn't yet signalling a turnaround, an increase in sales indicates that values may be starting to stabilise.

The market is now safe enough for Stanislas de Bellescize, a 44-year-old computer programmer who recently took the plunge and bought a house two subway stops from the affluent Salamanca district in downtown Madrid. More such decisions would offer Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy the prospect of a further pillar on which to build Spain's revamped economy after more than half a decade of misery.