INE: House Sales Rose by 3.7% YoY in Q1 2019

14 May 2019 – Idealista

According to data from INE, 133,989 homes were sold in Spain between January and March 2019, which represents a YoY increase of 3.7%. It also represents the best quarterly sales figure since the spring of 2008.

Nevertheless, it is worth noting that the volume of monthly sales actually decreased during the quarter from 47,000 in January, to 43,700 in February and 42,700 in March. Second-hand properties accounted for most house sales during the period, specifically 81.1% in March, although the volume of new build transactions did grow by 14.4% during the quarter.

By autonomous region

Andalucía, Cataluña and Madrid continued to lead the ranking in terms of the regions with the most transactions signed, with 8,915, 6,904 and 6,233 units sold, respectively.

Despite the strong results, Fernando Encinar, Head of Research at Idealista urges caution in light of the new Royal Decrees published in recent months. They are generating uncertainty in the market and so are slowing down growth – families and investors alike are deciding not to use their savings to buy a home and rent it out, in the short term at least, and that trend may become more widespread over the coming months.

Original story: Idealista

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

RE Portals Regard Lower Rate Of House Sales Growth As “Normal”

30 April 2017 – Europa Press

The real estate portals regard the moderation in the growth in house sales in February (which rose by only 1.2%, according to data published in April by INE) as a “symptom of normalisation”. They also believe that this data should not be interpreted as a “step backwards”, given that “very positive”, albeit “less bulky” figures are predicted for 2017.

The Head of Research at Idealista, Fernando Encinar, said that, although the figures are not “spectacular” and the statistics reveal a month-on-month decrease, they are still “positive” since they represent the best month of February since 2011.

Moreover, he said that if we take into account the homes sold during the last twelve months, the figure amounts to more than 410,000, which is 14% higher than during the previous 12 months. Moreover, this figure that “is getting closer to a normalised market”.

In addition, the Head of Research at Fotocasa, Beatriz Toribio, considers that this slowdown in the growth in house sales is a consequence of the trend towards normalisation in the Spanish real estate market.

“2017 will be a very positive year for the sector, in which we expect the recovery to be consolidated, although it is true that the increases in the different statistics that measure the sector’s health may not be as bulky as last year”, she explained.

A “very positive” year, with a “slow and moderate” recovery

According to Toribio, the sector is resuming its activity “in a firm and consolidated way, thanks to the return of credit, the improvement in the economy and interest from investors in homes”, but she states that “we should not forget that we are starting from a very low level, after the significant decreases recorded during the years of the crisis”, which means that the recovery will necessarily be “slow and moderate”.

Andalucía, Cataluña, the Community of Valencia and the Community of Madrid were the autonomous regions that recorded the highest number of operations (during 2016), which shows that “the improvement in the sector is not distributed evenly (across the country)”.

Finally, the Head of Research at Pisos.com, Manuel Gandarias, highlights that the sales figure has now exceeded one continuous year of increases. “The YoY data for the month of February shows a decrease compared to the figure in January, which is not the case if we take into account the fact that the data reflects operations undertaken between the end and beginning of the year when there are typically fewer signings”, he added.

In this sense, Gandarias explained that, although it is true that the YoY increase is “minimal” and is no longer in the double digits, the data “should not be interpreted as a step backwards, in any way”, but rather that it represents a “symptom of normalisation, given that we are no longer making comparisons with negative figures”. “It continues the positive trend, which has now been recorded consecutively for the last 13 months”, he said.

Original story: Europa Press

Translation: Carmel Drake

RE Portals Predict House Price Rises In 2016

11 December 2015 – El Economista

Experts at the real estate portals agree that the data published last Thursday by Spain’s National Institute of Statistics (INE) is positive. It shows a YoY increase in house prices of 4.5% during the third quarter, the highest since the start of the crisis.

Moreover, the experts consider that, although the recovery in the residential sector is not homogenous across the whole of Spain, it is likely that price increases will be seen in all regions next year.

The Director of the Research Office at pisos.com, Manuel Gandarías, said that “prices will begin to increase across the board in 2016, after the areas with limited supply and high demand finished their downwards course months ago”.

“The overvaluations experienced in certain towns have all but adjusted to the new pace in the market, and few locations will see notable decreases, given that an equilibrium has now been achieved”, he added.

Meanwhile, the Head of Research at Fotocasa, Beatriz Toribio, believes that INE’s data “reflects that the housing sector has now left behind the large price decreases”, but she warns that “that does not mean that prices have bottomed out”.

“Over the next few months, we will see fluctuations characteristic of the normalisation that is happening in the sector, and it will become more apparent that the sector is recovering at two speeds, given that whilst in certain areas, sales and prices are on the rise, in others, the trend will continue to decrease for quite some time”, she added.

Sales are also normalising

Similarly, the Head of Research at Idealista, Fernando Encinar, said that the price data from INE “signals the normalisation of the sector”. (…).

The Ministry of Development also published data on Thursday about house sales, which showed that the number of transactions increased by 16.3% during the third quarter, to 93,528 units, the highest volume for that period since 2009. Encinar believes that “this is good news, although not a surprise for the sector”.

“The data also confirms the forecasts that the sector is going to normalise at two speeds, with operations growing by more than 20% on a YoY basis in some regions, and the rate of increase barely exceeding 6% in others”, he said.

Original story: El Economista

Translation: Carmel Drake