INE: House Sales Rose By 26.9% In March

22 May 2017 – El Confidencial

House sales rose by 26.9% in March with respect to the same month in 2016, to reach 40,461 operations, the highest figure since February 2011, according to figures compiled by Spain’s National Institute of Statistics (INE).

This increase, which marks 14 consecutive months of YoY increases, is much higher than the rise recorded in February when operations increased by just 1.2% in YoY terms.

Transactions involving second-hand homes rose by 28.3% in March with respect to the same month in 2016, to reach 33,100, a level not seen since September 2007. Meanwhile, sales of new build properties rose by 21.2% in YoY terms, to reach 7,361 transactions, the highest figure since February 2016.

89.8% of the homes sold during the third month of the year were private (unsubsidised) properties and 10.2% were protected (social housing). Sales of private homes rose by 27.6% in March in YoY terms, to reach 36,332 transactions, meanwhile, operations involving social housing properties grew by 21.5%, to 4,129 transactions.

In monthly terms (March compared with February), house sales soared, by 13.6%, their highest increase in the month of March for at least five years.

In March, the greatest number of house sales per 100,000 inhabitants by region was recorded in the Community of Valencia (150), followed by the Balearic Islands (148) and Andalucía (121). The latter was also the autonomous region where the most (absolute) house sales were recorded during the third month of the year, with 7,976 transactions, followed by Cataluña (6,832), the Community of Valencia (5,854) and Madrid (5,684).

Original story: El Confidencial 

Translation: Carmel Drake