Spanish home sales increased by 14 per cent in November, but average prices declined by 1.5 per cent, according to the latest figures from the General Council of Notaries.

Home sales witnessed by Notaries increased by an annualised 14 per cent to 31,576 transactions in November, though sales were actually up 18.5 per cent when corrected for seasonality. Sales have increased in eight out of the last ten months.

Apartment sales (excluding social housing) were up 21 per cent. Sales of single-family homes were up 12 per cent.

House Prices

Home prices decreased 1.5 per cent to 1,194 €/m2, a cummulative decline of 36.7per cent since the start of the crisis in 2007. Resale flat prices (excluding social housing) fell 1.3 per cent, new flats by 6.4 per cent.

Mortgage Lending

New residential mortgage lending jumped to 12,823 new loans signed in November, up 37.2 per cent compared to the same month in 2013. Residential mortgage lending has grown significantly every month this year.

The average new residential mortgage loan fell, however, by 0.4 per cent to €109,022.

Conclusions

• November was another month of robust growth in home sales, providing more evidence that the Spanish property market has turned the corner
• Considering that November sales in 2013 were juiced up by tax changes, the annualised increase in 2014 was even more encouraging
• Another monthly decline in home prices demonstrates that it is still a buyer’s market in Spain, with more supply than demand
• There is some evidence that price declines are getting smaller, though it’s still too early to say when average national prices have turned the corner (other data shows prices rising in some segments, but not at a national level)
• Mortgage lending has maintained a year of strong growth, which is perhaps the most encouraging story in these statistics, as there can be no sustained recovery in the Spanish housing market without a recovery in mortgage lending first