Housing starts in Barcelona province have fallen an astonishing 83% this October, down to just 646 new residential construction projects, compared to 3,792 at the same time last year.

Furthermore, the rate at which the residential construction sector in Barcelona province is shrinking appears to be accelerating, according to the data from Barcelona’s College of Technical Architects. Housing starts fell by 64.5% in the first 10 months of the year, but by 83% in October, showing that the contraction is getting more severe as the year progresses.

Construction fell for all types of property in October, with flats down 84%, semi-detached properties down 91%, and villas down 65%. The average construction budget also fell in October, though on a year to date basis it is almost 25% up on the same period last year.

Despite the dramatic fall off in new housing starts, many developers are still working on the homes they started in the boom. In the first 10 months of the year they finished 12% more homes than last year, though construction completions have started to fall in recent month, with October down 33% compared to last year.

Falling construction completions is good news for a market already saturated with new homes, but the number of new properties coming onto the market is still too high. Despite a 33% fall in October, there were still 2,888 new homes finished in October, most of which will now sit on the shelf for several years at least.