154
154

College of Registrars: House Prices & Sales Rise in Q3 2017

11 December 2017 – Registradores.org

According to the Real Estate Statistics from the College of Registrars, which took the temperature of the housing market in the third quarter of 2017, house prices continued to strengthen during the period. The House Price Index of Repeated Sales (IPVVR) increased by 2% with respect to the previous quarter, to record a cumulative YoY increase of 6.8%. Since its most recent minimum levels, recorded in 2014, the index has increased by 18.6%, which means that the reduction since the maximum prices of 2007, has moderated, to 22.4%.

Between July and September, more than 119,000 house sales were registered in the Property Registries, up by 15.6% compared to the same period in 2016. That volume of operations, like the level recorded in Q2, has not been seen since 2011 and exceeds the volumes recorded in certain quarters of 2010, 2009 and even 2008.

Over the last twelve months, 445,725 operations have been registered, the highest YoY figure for the last six and a half years, and representing a YoY increase of 13%.

The latest report from the Registry Statistics also shows an incipient change in the trend, given that new homes are also showing their first signs of recovery. In fact, they recorded the highest QoQ increase, of 4%, whilst the sale of second-hand homes decreased by 1%. Even so, second-hand sales still account for more than 80% of all operations.

The distribution of operations by autonomous region retained its typical structure, with Andalucía, Cataluña, the Community of Madrid and the Community of Valencia recording the most sales, whilst, by province, the list was led once again by Madrid, Barcelona, Alicante, Málaga and Valencia.

Purchases by foreigners

After more than a year with overseas demand exceeding 13% (of the total), the figure decreased slightly to account for 12.8% of all house purchases. In absolute terms, that means more than 15,300 operations per quarter and 59,200 per year are being closed by foreigners. According to the report from the Registry Statistics, “in a scenario of growth in the absolute number of house sales, it is normal that in percentage terms, foreign demand would tend to stabilise in the best of cases, and decrease slightly under normal conditions, without that meaning that interest from foreign citizens in house purchases in Spain is decreasing”.

By nationality, Brits maintained their traditional position of leadership, although with a slightly lower percentage than in Q2, followed by the French, Germans, Swedes, Belgians, Italians and Romanians.

The Balearic Islands, Canary Islands and Community of Valencia were again the regions with the highest foreign presence, in such a way that foreign citizens account for between one third and one quarter of all purchases in those regions. They are characterised by their high tourist appeal, primarily in terms of their “sun and beach tourism” offerings. The same thing happened in the classification by province, which were led by Tenerife, Alicante, the Balearic Islands, Málaga and Girona.

Original story: Registradores.org

Translation: Carmel Drake