Spain records 16% increase in house sales in a year

Prime properties in desirable areas of Spain are proving incredibly popular this year, particularly with foreign buyers.

The numbers have been counted, the results are in, and the news comes as no surprise. No, not the EU referendum, but another head-turning headline where Brits have had a large say: property sales in Spain have grown by 16% year-over-year, according to data…

The General Council of Notaries revealed this week that sales in April increased 16.2% when compared to the same month in 2015. Seasonally adjusted – Easter fell in April last year – the increase was an even-more-impressive 18.9%.

Demand for properties in prime areas, such as the Costa del Sol, is surging, the data showed, with well-priced properties in some of Spain’s more sought-after areas often selling within a matter of days, experts have said.

Overseas clients – drawn largely from the UK, Scandinavia and Germany – are fuelling this house-buying boom, and demand is, in some areas, outstripping supply. With fewer new builds on the market, and vendors increasingly tempted to hold out a little longer for a higher price, some regions have begun to experience a slight tightening of supply.

Elsewhere, the data shows, price growth is suppressed, with prices in less desirable regions of Spain actually recording decreases of around 1.6% year-over-year. This is not representative of the entire market, however, with properties in southern Spain in particular enjoying healthy and steady increases in value so far in 2016.