MADRID – Home sales in Spain rose nearly 15% (14.9%) in August compared to the same period of the previous year thanks to the attractiveness of the second-hand housing market.
Home sales accounted for 57,327 transactions, the highest this month since 2007. This is evident according to data provided by the National Statistics Institute (INE). In addition, sales increased by 6.7% compared to July. It has been increasing for 18 months, awaiting the impact of the rate hike in the coming months and the response to inflation pressures on transactions.
With this new increase, home sales have grown by 20% since the beginning of the year. In concrete terms, an increase of 22.8% in second-hand homes and 8.7% in the case of new homes.
Promotion of second-hand apartments
Second-hand home sales were highest in August at over 82% of the total, up 17% year-on-year and 47,206 transactions. Of the sales, 7.7% concerned new homes, 6.1% more and 10,121 transactions.
On a monthly basis, sales of new and used homes increased respectively by 12.1% and 5.6%. On the other hand, 92.6% of houses sold in August were on the free market (53,100, 16% more than a year earlier) and 7.4% were protected, with 4,227 operations in August, 2.7% more.
Decline in Madrid, Navarra and La Rioja
House purchases rose in 14 autonomous communities but fell in Madrid, Navarra and La Rioja. The Madrid municipality, one of the most active, registered a decrease of 4.3% in August, in Navarra, it was 8.6% and in La Rioja 8.1%.
The largest year-on-year increase was in the Canary Islands, where purchases and sales grew by 52.8%. Asturias also stands out (+30.5%); Aragon (+26.7%); Andalucia (+23.5%); Basque Country (+20.8%) or Cantabria (+20.3%).
Two out of three purchases between private individuals
The largest number of transactions was recorded in Andalucia (12,797), followed by Catalonia (8,717), the Valencian Community (8,553) and the Community of Madrid (7,070).
The number of home sales between private individuals in August amounted to 39,448, which is 11.4% more than a year earlier. For example, two out of three apartment purchases closed in August were between private individuals.
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