Residential property prices in Spain fell an average of 26% in June year on year with re-sale property suffering the most, according to the latest published figures.

Re-sale property prices were down 33% compared with June 2008 while new property sales were down 18%, the data from the National Institute of Statistics show.  Prices also suffered in the Balearic Islands where they dropped some 48%.

But some experts are positive about the figures and point out that there are signs that the property crash is slowing as figures published for May showed year on year price falls of 33% and on a monthly basis real estate sales in June were 4% up on the previous month and reached their highest level since January 2009.

They also point out that new property sales are holding well and have not completely collapsed as expected. Indeed transactions in June were at their best for the second quarter of the year.

Property prices fell the most in the Cadiz area where they dropped 65% followed by 40% in the Balearics and 39% in the Balearics, the national statistics show. The best areas for prices were Almeria and Galicia which both experienced price increases.

The latest price index from appraisal firm, Tinsa, also shows a slight improvement in the rate of decline for Spanish property prices. It shows prices fell by 9.2% over the year to the end of July, a slight improvement on the previous figures when prices fell more than 10% every month.

The report shows that property on the coast experienced the highest price falls down some 10.9% with cities like Madrid and Barcelona seeing price falls of 9.7% and the Balearics recording a decline of 8%.

An examination of both sets of figures can make uneven reading as one is based on sales and the other valuations, but they do both show that the steep rate of decline in property prices in Spain is slowing.