Spanish property transactions increase for 18th month in a row

The Spanish property market has enjoyed 18 months of sustained growth as prices, mortgages and number of buyers all increase

For the 18^th month in a row, the number of homes sold in Spain has grown, according to new data published this week by the country’s General Council of Notaries.

This sustained recovery of the housing market is great news for would-be investors and current homeowners, bringing with it steady price increases, growing market confidence and greater interest from many different buying groups…

Domestic demand has been one of the strongest drivers behind this growth, with Spain’s improving economy and strengthening job market enticing previously reluctant families and couples to take out a mortgage. Loosened lending criteria among Spanish banks, and continued low interest rates, have also given the market the push it needs.

Indeed, the General Council of Notaries revealed that the number of new mortgages approved had increased by 7.3% year-on-year by November 2015. Seasonally adjusted, this worked out as a 2.4% increase over 18 months.

According to the data, transactions for apartments nationwide have increased by 6.2% over the course of a year, with October 2015 seeing more than double the amount sold that month than in the same month in 2014.

Properties classed as ‘individual family homes’ – namely townhouses and detached buildings – also enjoyed a strong 18 months, with sales increasing 11.4% over that time frame. For the past nine months, in fact, there has been double-digit increase in the number of family homes sold in Spain.

The majority of this recovery is being played out in Spain’s resale market. By contrast, the sale of new homes has now fallen for ten months straight, and by November 2015 there were 18.6% fewer transactions than a year prior.

New build property prices have not fallen as fast as many had hoped, particularly since Spain’s banks have successfully offloaded the more troublesome homes.

Prices for resale properties have been rising, however, among most regions, and taken as a nationwide average, apartments are now 5.9% cent more expensive per square metre today than they were at the beginning of 2015, the data showed.