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The Sale Homes Increases 8,8% In June

08/08/2014 – Expansión

The sale of homes has increased by 8.8% in June compared with the same month in 2013, reaching a total of 26.076 transactions, due to the boost of the second hand market, according to an announcement today by the Spanish Statistical Office (INE).

It is the fourth increase in a row after those experienced in March, April and May, when the sale of homes rose more than 22%, 5% and 5,4%, respectively, putting an end to ten consecutive months of year-on-year declines.

The figures published by the Spanish Statistical Office (INE) relate to sales recorded on the property registers based on deeds of sale from the months prior to that of the data.

Looking only at month-on-month data (comparing June with May), the sale of homes declined 7,3%. As for the year-to-date total (from January to June against the same period in 2013), a drop of 5,4% has occurred.

The year-on-year growth in the sale of homes has been due to the 17,4% increase in the sale of second hand homes, which have reached 16.257 transactions. On the other hand, the sale of new homes declined at a rate of 3% year-on-year, to 9.819 transactions.

The combined total, the number of homes registered as being transferred on the property registries (based on deeds of sale already finalised) in the month of June was 125.817, which represents 8,8% less than in the same month of 2013. In the case of the registered sales of homes, the number of transfers has reached 56.250, which represents an annual increase of 5,9%. The autonomous regions of Navarre, Aragon and Castille-Leon have the most activity. In June, the total number of transferred homes filed on the property registers for every 100.000 inhabitants reached the highest amount in Navarre (566), Aragon (536) and Castille-Leon (512).

The autonomous regions which have registered the highest inter-annual changes are Navarre (27,1%), the Balearic Islands (11,4%) and the Basque Country (10,9%). On the other hand, the one which has shown the lowest increases is Castilla.

Despite the improvement, analysts warn of the dangers of being overly optimistic. The head of studies at Idealista.com, Fernando Encinar, believes that this data “could lead to false expectations among sellers”, being based on a comparison with 2013 which was the worst year in the real estate sector.

Encinar believes that this data “could generate a greater resistance to lowering prices”, when the statistics also show a fall of 7,3% month-on-month after fewer homes than ever (9.819) were sold in June.

Meanwhile, the head of studies of Fotocasa.es, Beatriz Toribio, explains that the recovery of the property market will be slow and modest, given that although sales are slightly increasing and the fall of prices is slowing down, credit remains very limited and the labour market situation is still very complicated, which constrains the demand for homes from private individuals.

Original article: Expansión
Translation: Aura REE