Property purchases started the year with record figures. In January, 47,289 transactions were registered, the highest figure since May 2008, and an increase of 23.1% year-on-year, according to data from the Spanish National Institute of Statistics (Instituto Nacional de Estadística or INE). Once again, the sale of second-hand properties takes most of the weight, reaching its highest figure in the first month of 2018 since the boom years.
After closing 2017 with more than half a million property sales, a figure that hadn’t been seen since 2008, January 2018 maintained the upward trend and the normalisation of the residential sector after the worst of the crisis. In the first month of the year, 47,289 operations were closed, an interannual increase of 23.1%, according to the National Institute of Statistics (INE). This total sales figure represents the best monthly figure since May 2008 (49,647).
By property type, transactions on second-hand homes accounted for 82.5% of total operations, compared to 17.5% for new constructions. Sales of used homes grew 23% year-on-year, reaching 39,017 transactions, its highest figure since June 2007, in the middle of the property bubble. As for new constructions, the growth was 23.5%.
By regions, the communities with the highest annual increases in January were Asturias (55.7%), the Valencian Community (40.5%) and Murcia (38.8%). Extremadura (1.3%), Aragon (5.2%), La Rioja and Catalonia (both with 8.2%) registered the lowest annual variation rates in January.
For Fernando Encinar, Head of Research at idealista, "January is usually a good month for sales, but the start of 2018 has been especially positive, both in terms of growth percentage and the number of operations closed, as they are the best figures since May 2008. Beginning the year like that brings optimism to a sector which adds to the strength of the normalisation process. The fact that the number of operations has grown in all autonomous communities except in Extremadura is also a sign of widespread recovery of demand, although it is taking place at different rates. However, the data should alert us to the need to start building houses immediately in some cities where the supply is reducing considerably while the demand increases, or otherwise prices could start to rise more quickly and aggressively."
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