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Notaries: House Sales Rose By 7.3% YoY In November

19 January 2016 – Expansión

According to statistics from the General Council of Notaries, 34,918 house sales were recorded in November, which represents an increase of 7.3% with respect to the same month one year before and means that sales have now recorded 18 months of uninterrupted growth.

Although the increase amounts to just 3.3% in the seasonally adjusted figures, the notaries highlight that the trend towards recovery is still maintained, even though the volume of transactions still falls “well below” the figures seen before the crisis.

By type of home, sales of apartments increased by 6.2% YoY in November, more than double the rise in October, driven by the sale of both free (unsubsidised) homes (+8.3%) and second-hand homes (+12.2%). New home sales continued to decrease (by -18.6%) for the tenth consecutive month.

In the same way, sales of single-family homes continued to grow in November (by +11.4%) to record nine consecutive months of double-digit increases.

In terms of prices, the average price per m2 of homes purchased in November amounted to €1,219/m2, which represents decrease of 1.1% in YoY terms, driven by reductions in the price of both flats (-0.6%) and single-family homes (0.8%). Within the flat segment, the price per m2 of second-hand homes dropped by -0.7% in YoY terms (to €1,320/m2), whilst new home prices recovered by 5.9% YoY (to €1,666/m2).

Mortgages are also on the rise

In terms of the mortgage market, the number of new mortgages granted increased by 7.3% YoY in November, to 25,681 operations, which represented the same (percentage) increase as the number of house sales. Nevertheless, that increase amounted to just 2.4% YoY in the seasonally adjusted series, the lowest rise in a year and a half.

Meanwhile, the average amount loaned amounted to €144,223, which represents an increase of 5.5% with respect to the same month one year earlier.

Loans granted to acquire properties have continued to increase at the highest rate. They rose by 17% YoY, to 16,404 new operations, to record 23 consecutive months of increases, driven by an increase in the number of mortgages granted to purchase homes (+16.7%) as well as to buy other properties (+21.3%).

Nevertheless, the significant growth in the number of operations was not reflected in the amount of average capital granted, which grew by 2.3% YoY in November. According to the notaries’ statistics, that was due to the decrease in the average amount loans to acquire homes (-1.5%), after 14 months of continuous increases; meanwhile, the average capital granted for the acquisition of other properties grew by 28.2%, in line with the increase in October.

Finally, the percentage of home purchases financed through mortgage loans amounted to 43.3%, and therefore continued its rising trend. For this type of purchase (i.e. with financing), the loan amount represented 77.6% (of the value of the property) on average, in line with the data registered in recent months.

Original story: Expansión

Translation: Carmel Drake