The number of Spanish home sales inscribed in the Land Registry was up by 18% in February compared to the same month last year, the biggest February increase since the boom years more than a decade ago.
There were 37,412 Spanish home sales inscribed in the Land Register in February, and 41,480 if you include homes subsidised by the Government, known as VPO, all according to the latest figures from the National Institute of Statistics (INE), based on sales inscribed in the Land Registry.
Home sales have grown by double digits in most months since March 2014, when the Spanish housing market recovery started. That said, sales are still down by 44% compared to the peak year of 2007. Sales in the boom years were exaggerated and unsustainable, so not a normal benchmark, but there still looks like room for more growth.
Bear in mind these figures are based on sales inscribed in the Land Register, not sales completed in the month. As such they lag the market by a few months. More timely figures from the Association of Spanish Notaries for home sales that took place in February were up 2.7%.
New and resale Spanish property transactions
New home and resale transactions were up 17% and 16% respectively in February, showing that the recover is now firing on both pistons, having relied almost exclusively on resales between the start of the recovery in 2013 and May last year. New home sales have increased by double digits almost every month for the last year, driven by the recovery in demand for new homes in Spain.
Spanish Home Sales by Region – February 2018
Looking at the evolution of sales by region with a focus on areas that attract foreign buyers in significant numbers, year to date sales have increased strongly almost everywhere except Extremadura (where foreign demand is not a big part of the picture) and Catalonia, where the constitutional crisis and political uncertainty are discouraging foreign buyers. Sales were up 59% in Castellón province, home to the Costa del Azahar, in what looks like the first signs of recovery in a coastal market that has suffered the crisis longer and harder than most.
The overall picture is one of surging sales in most areas of Spain that attract foreigners in significant numbers, with the exception of the Catalan provinces of Barcelona, Girona, and Tarragona. But even in those regions sales were positive, despite the political turbulence.