Alex Trelinski
OCTOBER’S home property sales were the highest for any month in Spain since May 2007.
The National Institute of Statistics(INE) said 69,418 homes were sold- 51.3% up on the previous October.
The previous monthly best was over 17 years ago at 75,000 sales.
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It was also the sharpest month-to-month rise since August 2021 and there have now been four consecutive monthly increases this year.
The General Council of the Official Associations of Real Estate Agents of Spain said the figures are ‘very good news’, since the purchase of homes is a ‘key’ indicator to analyse the financial health of a country and the solvency of its homes.
They expect sales to continue positively over the next few months, though not with as many dramatic rises- especially during the more quiet winter period.
Flats and apartments were the most popular in October, rising by 83.4% over 12 months- the highest figure since February 2013.
Second-hand home sales grew by 43.6% to 53,194 in October and the biggest total since the current INE measurement system started at the beginning of 2017.
Experts say the spectacular rise in sales is caused by three factors.
One reason is that fears of rising house prices are prompting customers to secure deals as soon as possible.
Falling interest rates and a better economy are the other factors.
Spokesperson for the idealista property portal, Francisco Iñareta, said: “AID:id, “It seem to be clear that that latent demand has been reactivated very strongly after the reduction in financing and the fear that prices will continue to grow strongly”.
Likewise, Iñareta confirmed that the supply of properties is still a problem and that the uptake in sales will make things worse.
Fotocasa’s Maria Montos highlighted that new homes reflect a large year-on-year increase of 29.5% and close October with 16,224 sales, which represents 23% of the total number of homes bought and sold.
“It is a volume in line with the percentage shown in recent years but the interest in buying brand new homes is strong, since they meet what buyers most want,” he said.
He also warned that this could lead to a serious problem of rising prices if demand continues to be so latent.
“The difficulties of developers in finding land and financing it, in addition to the increase in the cost of materials or excessive bureaucracy, have caused the slowdown of some developments, leaving production levels very low to absorb such demand,” Montos added.
