The latest data from the Spanish notaries’ association shows the Spanish housing market growing in both sales and prices in the first quarter of the year.

There were 159,324 home sales witnessed by notaries in Q1, a fractional increase of 0.2pc on the same time last year, and the first growth in six quarters, turning around a negative trend that persisted for the whole of 2023 as the market cooled after the post-pandemic boom of 2022.

More importantly, Q1 sales were the second-highest on record for the period (in more than fifteen years) suggesting that the market has found a new equilibrium at a higher level than before the pandemic. Sales this year were 12pc higher than the same period in 2019, the last benchmark year before the pandemic. The low growth of less than 1pc in Q1 should not detract from the strength of sales.

In the regions of most interest to foreign investors, sales increased by 6% in Murcia, where British buyers dominate the foreign market, and by 1% in the Valencian Community, home to the Costa Blanca in Alicante province. Sales declined by 1% in Catalonia and Madrid, 2.5% in Andalusia, 4.5% in the Balearics, and 11% in the Canaries – the only region where the downward trend accelerated.

The Spanish housing market has also outperformed its European neighbours for which data is available from Eurostat, the EU’s statistics office. Spain had the highest level of quarterly growth in Q4 of last year (+15%), compared to a decline of 14% in France. When Eurostat publishes Q1 statistics it’s likely that Spain will continue to be one of the front runners.

Spanish house prices in Q1 2024

Looking at house prices, the national average increased by an annualised 5pc to 1,698 €/sqm in Q1 with big regional variations ranging from a jump of 24pc in the Balearics (3,566 €/sqm) to just +3pc in Murcia (988 €/sqm), as illustrated by the chart below.

Data Hub subscribers can dive into much more detail with the latest Spanish housing market numbers…