Insight into the Spanish property market, guides to help you make informed decisions, and a directory of real estate professionals and home service providers from a source you can trust.
This is a website for buyers, owners, and sellers of property in Spain, offering reliable information and resources to help you get things done with confidence. It is run by Mark Stücklin, author of the Spanish Property Doctor Column in The Sunday Times (2005-2008), and the book ‘Need to Know: Buying Property in Spain’ published by Collins.
When you buy or sell property in Spain the sums of money are large, perhaps one of the biggest financial decisions of your life. The high transaction costs you will face like taxes and commissions only make the decision more important to get right. And when you own property in Spain you face a host of extra challenges to manage, and costs to control. Unfortunately, the Spanish property market is opaque and full of pitfalls, and notoriously unprofessional. Buying and selling property in Spain is not a decision to be taken lightly, and you may find it much easier to buy than sell if you don’t take care. In this market it is crucial to do your own research, and don’t rely exclusively on people who are trying to sell you something – let’s just say they might not have your best interests at heart. Spanish Property Insight is the only independent source of information and analysis of the Spanish property market. Don’t even think about buying or selling property in Spain without subscribing to Spanish Property Insight.
The number of Spanish home sales inscribed in the Land Registry shot up by 31% in April compared to the same time last year, according to figures just released by the National Institute of Statistics (INE). However, Easter fell in March this year, and April last year, which would have boosted April sales this year, and reduced them in 2017 so seasonality was partly to blame for the size of the increase.
There were 37,930 Spanish home sales inscribed in the Land Register in April, and 42,041 if you include subsidised homes (known as VPO) all according to the latest figures from the INE.
Sales are recorded in the land registry between one and three months after completion, meaning these figures lag the market by a few months. More timely figures from the Association of Spanish Notaries for home sales that took place in April reveal an increase of 11.6% to 48,415 (including VPO), though on a seasonally adjusted basis the increase was 5.3%. So both of the main sources of data for monthly Spanish home sales show activity growing at a healthy rate in April.
New and resale Spanish property transactions
New home sales inscribed in April were up 27% to 7,105, and resales up 31% to 34,909, according to the INE. The crash in new homes sales has clearly come to an end with sales growing strongly almost every month for the last year (next chart).
The next chart illustrates how new and resale transactions have gone in separate directions since the recovery started, with resales almost doubling since the start of 2014, whilst new homes sales, though now growing fast, are still below where they were in 2014 so sales are increasing from a low base.
Next comes a chart I’ve never published before that illustrates the drama of the boom-to-bust-and-back decade the Spanish property market has been through, one that crushed the local home building industry, and left new home sales near historic lows. Resales, on the other hand, are almost back to where they were in the boom year of April 2007. Of course, we have to bear in mind that off-plan sales made today won’t be inscribed in the Land Registry for up to two years, so there is a lot of new build sales activity not yet showing up in these figures.
Spanish Home Sales by Region – April 2018
Last month showed sales failing or barely increasing in the majority of regions of interest to foreign investors, but it turns out that was largely due to seasonality. The latest figures show sales increasing an astonishing 62% in Malaga province, which includes the Costa del Sol, and 55% in Castellón province, home to the Costa del Azahar. Sales growth of 50% in Murcia was also impressive, but increases were in the double digits almost everywhere.
Compared to other regions, sales growth in the Catalan provinces of Tarragona (Costa Dorada), Barcelona, and Girona (Costa Brava) was at the lower end of the market, most likely due to the ongoing constitutional crisis and political uncertainty putting off some buyers, especially foreign investors.
Otherwise the home sales figures for April paint a rosy picture of continued strong growth in demand for homes in Spain, and an increasing number of people with the financial resources to buy them.
Everything you need to know about property in Spain
Login or Register to read articles without any adverts in the text.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. If you continue to use the website you agree to our use of cookies. You can find out more here. Accept
Cookies
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
Leave a Reply