The market contracted slightly in October after months of double-digit increases, reveal the latest figures from the Association of Spanish Notaries.

There were 35,743 homes sales witnessed by Spanish notaries in October, down 1.7% compared to the same month last year, but up 2.1% when corrected for seasonality. So, in effect, there was no significant change compared with last year (chart above left).

However, the lack of significant growth comes towards the end of a year in which sales have risen by double-digits in percentage terms almost every month this year. Was October a one-off or the start of something? We shall have to wait and see what the following months bring.

Average national house prices rose 1.5% in October (chart above right), which I will cover in my end-of-month roundup of all house price data published in December (Spanish house price index tracker).

As you can see from the next two charts, sales (left) are still 50% below the peak, and prices (right) more than 30%.