Spanish home sales were up 6pc in the first half with prices also rising in what looks like one of the most buoyant housing markets in Europe in 2024, according to the latest data from the Spanish notaries’ association.

There were 350,818 home sales witnessed by notaries in the first half of the year, up 6pc on the same period last year, according to data just published by the notaries’ association. 

Q2 sales were 189,909, up 10.5pc on last year, and the second best Q2 on record during the last 15 years, as illustrated by the chart above.

But figures just released by the National Institute of Statistics (INE), and widely reported in the press, showed sales declining 4pc in Q2 , which appear to be at odds with the numbers from the notaries. Why this might be the case is explained in the box below.

Sales in the second quarter increased in all the regions of most interest to foreign investors with the exception of the Balearics where sales declined by 8.4pc compared to a year before. Sales increased the most in Madrid (+16pc) followed by Andalusia (+11pc) as illustrated by the next chart.

House prices

The notaries data shows average Spanish house prices increasing 3.4pc over 12 months to the end of June 2024, having increased in every quarter but one since Q2 2015, (if you exclude a three-quarter dip in prices over the pandemic, for obvious reasons). As the next chart shows, Spanish house prices have risen steadily since bottoming out in 2013, and have continued to rise despite higher interest rates that have sent other European housing markets like France and Germany into decline. However, the average Spanish house price is still below where it was more than 15 years ago in nominal terms, so it all depends on your starting point.

By region prices rose the most in the Valencian Community (+7.2pc) and the least in the Balearics (+2pc), as illustrated by the final chart below.

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