Ministry of Development: House Sales Return to Pre-Crisis Levels

1 October 2018 – Voz Pópuli

There is no doubt about it. House sales have been reactivated. The clearest evidence yet is the latest data published by the Ministry of Development. According to the figure, in the second quarter of the year, more than 160,000 homes were sold, which represents an increase of 11.5% YoY. That volume has not been seen since the second quarter of 2007, before the outbreak of the financial crisis, when 227,000 units were sold.

Over the last twelve months, between July 2017 and June 2018, almost 560,000 homes were sold, up by 12.1% compared to the previous twelve months.

All of the autonomous regions recorded increases – in the second quarter – with the exception of the Spanish islands and Ceuta and Melilla. Nevertheless, based on the cumulative figures for the year, all recorded positive results. By municipality, Madrid registered the most sales during the second quarter, with 12,949.

In terms of home type, second-hand homes continued to dominate, accounting for 91% of the total. New home transactions only accounted for 8.5% of all house sales.

Mortgages

After a decrease in March, July brought with it the fourth consecutive monthly YoY increase in the field of mortgages, which exceeded double digits once again. Mortgages recorded three months of decreases with respect to the interest rate, whilst on an annual basis, they have now accumulated a decrease of more than 6%, making it more attractive to take out credit, according to explanations provided by the Head of Research at pisos.com, Ferran Font.

The signing of fixed-rate mortgages also returned to just above the 40% threshold in July, which has only happened twice so far during 2018.

Original story: Voz Pópuli (by David Cabrera)

Translation: Carmel Drake