Interest in second homes helped push home sales up 8.8 per cent in June, in the latest sign that activity is returning to many markets.
Of the 26,076 homes sold in the month, 62.3 per cent were second homes, a 17.4 per cent increase from a year earlier, according to the National Statistic Bureau’s June data released today.
The 8.8 per cent annual increase for the month represents the fourth straight month of sales increases, but the overall numbers for the first half are still below 2013, El Pais notes. A total of 162,591 homes were sold between January and June, a 5.2 per cent decline from a year earlier. In the second quarter sales were down 7.3 per cent from the second quarter of 2013.
But the latest numbers appear to confirm that the endless stream of steady sales officially ended earlier this year.
The biggest jumps in sales were in Madrid (30.4 per cent), Extremadura (25.7 per cent) and Foral de Navarra (19.3 per cent). The biggest declines were Castilla-La Mancha (-21.6 percent), La Rioja (-12.8 per cent) and Castilla y Leon (-10.3 per cent).
Sales of new homes were down 3 per cent in June from a year ago. Overall, the number of property transfers – including all types of property – was down 8.8 per cent from a year ago.
Cliff Edwards says:
What EXACTLY does “Merchanting” mean in this particular context. And why is the “Merchanting ” figure so far adrift from the recorded transfers recorded by the registries? Mark? Anybody?
Mark Stücklin says:
Cliff, what they are trying to say is ‘home sales’. The Registry figures for June aren’t available yet, but they should be similar, as the NIE figures are based on the Property Registry figures. Do you have figures for a month showing a difference, for example March? I’m on holiday and can’t get at the figures.