Notaries: House Sales Rose By 13.3% In Q2

26 October 2016 – El Mundo

The housing market is sticking firmly to its path of recovery. This situation means that house sales, prices and the granting of mortgages are all continuing to rise, according to real estate statistics from the General Council of Notaries corresponding to the second quarter of 2016.

During Q2 2016, house sales rose by 13.3% at the national level (122,776 transactions were recorded), with double digit growth rates recorded in the vast majority of autonomous regions. Reductions in the number of house sales were recorded only in Navarra (-20.4%) and La Rioja (-2.7%).

The Balearic Islands – the main market driver

Six of the autonomous regions that recorded sales growth registered increases below the national average (13.3%), whilst the remaining nine recorded above-average increases. Notable rises were observed in the Balearic Islands and Cataluña, with increases of 27.8% and 25%, respectively.

On the other hand, average prices per square metre at the national level grew by 1.3% during the second quarter of the year, to reach €1,314/m2, and that figure was far surpassed in the Balearic Islands (€2,189), País Vasco (€2,169) and Madrid (€1,883).

Average prices decreased in eight autonomous regions, falling particularly sharply in La Rioja (-34.0%), Navarra (-20.1%) and Castilla y León (-12.3%). Meanwhile, price rose in line with the national average in País Vasco (2.1%) and Murcia (2.5%). Nevertheless, the highest YoY increases in the average price per m2 were recorded in the Canary Islands (7.7%) and Madrid (4.9%).

Regarding the mortgage market, loans signed to acquire homes recorded double digit growth rates overall. The national average increase amounted to 26.1% (with 56,815 operations), with the exception of Navarra, where the number of mortgage operations fell by 0.7%. The autonomous regions with the highest growth rates were the Balearic Islands (48.7%) and Cataluña (45.7%) and the smallest rises were seen in La Rioja (6.7%) and Cantabria (16.8%).

The average mortgage amounted to €130,254

The average mortgage at the national level rose by 3.5% YoY, to €130,254. Despite decreases in Extremadura (-29.1%) and the Canary Islands (-16.1%), significant increases were observed in the average loan amount in Madrid (14.6%) and the Balearic Islands (10.6%).

Finally, the percentage of house purchases financed using mortgages stood at 46.3%. The autonomous region with the highest percentage of financed house purchases was País Vasco (70.4%), whilst the Community of Valencia (31.7%) saw the fewest financed house purchases.

Original story: El Mundo

Translation: Carmel Drake