Home sales were up 2.7% to 39,945 in February, and house prices were unchanged over 12 months at 1,349 €/m2, show the latest figures in the monthly housing market report from the Spanish Notaries’ Association.

Seasonally adjusted, the increase in home sales was just 1.3% in February. Flat sales were up 6.2% (7.7% excluding VPO subsidised housing), new flat sales up just 2.4%, and single-family home sales down 11.6%.

Flat prices increased by 1.1% compared to the same month last year, whilst single-family homes declined 2.6%, leaving the average cost of housing unchanged in a year.

New mortgage lending for residential purchases was up 13% and the average loan value was €129,922, up 0.1% in a year.

As the following charts illustrate, homes sales have steadily increased over the last five years, and are now above the level of 2009, but still 30% lower than 2007, whilst house prices have also been recovering gradually over the same period, but are also still down by around 30% peak-to-present.