Learn Spanish (Spain): La casa era una ganga por ese precio. - The house was a bargain for that price.

In Spanish, por is always used to talk about price, exchange, or substitution. Because you are talking about the money exchanged for the house (ese precio), you must use por. If you used para, it would sound like the price is the destination or recipient.

Why is the verb era (imperfect) used instead of fue (preterite)?

We use era because we are describing a general characteristic or ongoing state of the house in the past. It simply describes what the house's value was. If you were talking about the specific, finalized moment you bought it as a completed event, you might hear fue, but era is perfect for describing its general condition.

What exactly does ganga mean?

Una ganga is a very common, everyday noun in Spain that translates to 'a bargain' or 'a steal'. You use it whenever you find something being sold for much less than its usual value.

Why is it ese precio and not eso precio?

Ese is the masculine singular word for 'that', and we use it here because it comes directly before the masculine noun precio. You only use eso (the neutral pronoun) when you aren't naming the object or are referring to an abstract idea, such as saying just por eso (because of that).