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