NOTARIES: Home sales and prices rise in August

Figures from Spain’s Association of Notaries show that August was a good month for property sales, with transactions going up when they usually drop off during the summer.

Sales went up by 17% in August compared to the same time last year, and prices by 0.3%, according to figures published by the notaries. Specifically, 27,301 properties were sold with an average square metre price of €1,160.

The rise in sales was mostly due to the boom in sales of resale properties, which went up by 18.3%. In contrast, sales of new builds dropped by 0.9% in the year. Sales of detached homes increased by 20.5%.

The rise in sales was helped by the minimal increase in prices, up just 0.3%, due to the drop in the square metre price for detached homes (down 3.1%). Prices for flats went up 0.1%. This brought average square metre prices for resale properties to €1,289 (up 0.1% in the year) and for new builds to €1,722 (up 3.8% in the year).

Mortgage approvals went up by 10% in the 12 months to August to reach 12,072 new mortgage loans. The average amount loaned rose by 0.8% to €117,878.