Spanish house sales rise 8.8% in a year

Sales in Spanish property are up for the fourth month running

Figures published this week by Spain’s National Statistics Institute (INE) show that sales in Spanish property have risen by 8.8 per cent in the space of 21 months.

In June this year there were 26,076 property transactions for the month, nearly all of which were in the resale market. This is a significant increase on the same period last year, and represents the fourth consecutive monthly increase in property sales…The number of Spanish properties sold compared to 2013 has increased each month since March, rising 22 per cent, five per cent and 5.4 per cent respectively, with June’s 8.8 per cent expected to be matched in July.

This positive upwards trend seems to have brought to an end a run of ten consecutive months prior when the number of houses sold in Spain fell year-on-year.

However, these four straight months of positivity have not yet convinced sceptics that Spain’s housing market is finally on the firm road to recovery, given that the combined sales figures for the first half of 2014 are still below last year’s. Between January and June this year, 162,591 properties have been sold, compared to 2013 when that figure stood at 171,596 – a fall of around five per cent.

Over the second quarter of this year, the combined figures are also down a little on last year, by approximately seven per cent.

This data is spread nationwide, but the INE did reveal that some regions are performing far more strongly than others, with the Spanish capital Madrid leading the way, enjoying a 30% sales increase in June when compared to last year. Other notable cities and regions that have experienced a sales upswing include Extremadura (25.7 per cent increase), the Balearics (17 per cent increase), and areas of the Costa del Sol (with increases ranging from 10 to 14 per cent in some towns and resorts).

Of the 26,076 homes sold in June, the majority – 16,257 – were apartments bought on a resale basis. Movement in this sector of the market is up 17.4 per cent on last year, indicating that perhaps more first-time buyers are returning to the Spanish property market.

However, the unsurprising news is that Spain’s new home sector is still in the doldrums, with just 9,819 newly built properties selling in June – a fall of three per cent on last year.