Spain records 30% property sales increase in March

More than 400,000 Spanish homes have been bought and sold over the past 12 months – 15% more than the 12 months that preceded it.

The latest official figures on Spain’s property market released last week by the Institute of National Statistics (INE) has shown that March saw a 30% year-on-year increase in transactions…

According to the encouraging INE date, the 40,461 homes that were bought and sold during that month in Spain is the highest monthly reported figure since February 2011 – and would be the highest since the pre-credit crunch days of 2008 were it not for a government tax break that boosted sales at the start of 2011.

All in all, 2017 has so far been a post-recession record-breaker for property transactions, with January and February data also reminiscent of sales activity more normally associated with the pre-bust years.

Cumulatively, in the first three months of the year some 114,528 properties have changed hands in Spain, which is around 15% higher than for the same period in 2016. When extrapolated over the past 12 months, property sales reach 419,000 – a figure that also represents 15% growth on the 12 months prior.

Across Spain, 16 out of 17 autonomous communities posted property sales increases, with only the Canary Islands experiencing a slight (3.5%) contraction compared to March 2016.

The regions with the biggest year-on-year sales increases were La Rioja, Asturias and Cantabria, which all posted sales growth in excess of 40%.

Further analysis of the INE data shows that there were 110 property transactions per 100,000 people classed as of home-buying age. This ratio soared to 150 and 148 in the Valencia and Balearic Islands regions respectively.