INE: House Sales Rose By 1.2% In February

11 April 2017 – Expansión

House sales rose by 1.2% in February compared to the same month in 2016 to reach 35,610 operations, according to figures published yesterday by Spain’s National Institute for Statistics (INE). The increase, which represents the 13th consecutive month of YoY increases, is well below the figure seen in January when the volume of operations rose by 18.1% in YoY terms to reach its highest figure in four years.

Transactions involving second-hand homes rose by 6.1% in February with respect to the same month in 2016, to reach 29,171 operations, whilst the sale of new homes decreased by 16.3% in YoY terms, to 6,439 transactions.

89.3% of the homes processed for sale during the second month of the year were private (unsubsidised) homes and 10.7% were social housing properties. The sale of private homes rose by 1.5% in February in YoY terms, to reach 31,807 transactions, meanwhile operations involving social housing properties dropped by 0.7% to 3,803 transactions.

In monthly terms (comparing February with January), house sales decreased by 7.4%, in contrast to the monthly increase of 8% that was recorded a year earlier.

By autonomous region

House sales decreased in nine autonomous regions in the month of February, in particular in the País Vasco, where sales volumes dropped by 15.7%. Meanwhile, they rose in the remaining eight regions, led by La Rioja, with increases of 14.9%. The highest YoY increases in the number of house sales were recorded in La Rioja (14.9%), Castilla y León (9.9%) and Cataluña (8.7%). At the opposite end of the spectrum were País Vasco (-15.7%), Cantabria (-9.6%) and Galicia (-5.9%), which recorded the highest decreases in February. In terms of the total number of properties sold per the property registers for every 100,000 inhabitants, the highest values were recorded in La Rioja (693), Castilla y León (612) and Navarra (566).

Original story: Expansión

Translation: Carmel Drake

INE: House Sales Rose By 14% In 2016 To 403,866

13 February 2017 – Expansión

On Friday, official data from Spain’s National Institute for Statistics (INE) certified that 2016 was the year of recovery in the housing sector. In total, 403,866 homes were sold, up by 13.6% compared with 2015. It was the third consecutive year of growth following an increase of 11.5% in 2015 and 2.2% in 2014, and it was the first time since 2010 that the property market exceeded the psychological barrier of 400,000 operations. The cumulative increase in the number of house sales since the last year of the recession in the real estate sector now exceeds 30%.

18.7% of the homes sold and purchased in 2016 were new and 81.3% were second-hand. The number of operations involving new homes decreased by 1.7%, whilst the number involving second-hand home sales rose by 17.8%, with respect to 2015.

At this point, it is worth noting that the INE considers all homes aged over five years old as “second-hand” homes, even if no-one has ever lived in them, something which happens a lot with the stock held by the banks.

“Our expectations were fulfilled during the year, despite the turmoil created by the political uncertainty and other problems, which could have easily delayed the recovery. People buying and selling homes to reposition themselves on the property ladder have driven the boom”, said the Director of Research at Pisos.com, Manuel Gandarias.

More new builds in 2017

In any case, the hegemony of the second-hand market is a trend that may start to reverse this year: “During 2017, we will see new build homes gaining momentum and growing at a faster rate”, said Gandarias.

“House sales will continue growing at a good pace, but new builds will give us more positive data and if financing is maintained at its current levels, increasingly more people will be able to access mortgages”, said Beatriz Toribio, Head of Research at Fotocasa.

The number of house sales grew in every autonomous region in 2016. The highest increases were recorded in the Balearic Islands (31%), Cataluña (20%), Extremadura (18.6%), Asturias (16%), Aragón (14.7%) and Cantabria (13.7%). The Community of Madrid registered an annual increase of 12.2%. Meanwhile, La Rioja (5.7%), Murcia (7.5%) and Galicia (7.7%) recorded lower increases with respect to 2015.

Based on the number of house sales registered, the autonomous regions with the highest number of sales per 100,000 inhabitants in 2016 were the Balearic Islands (1,521), the Community of Valencia (1,478) and the Canary Islands (1,196).

89.7% of homes sold in 2016 were free (unsubsidised) and 10.3% were social housing properties. The number of unsubsidised homes sold increased by 13.5% with respect to 2015 and the number of social housing properties rose by 14.5%, according to INE.

For Fernando Encinar, Head of Research at Idealista, the strong increase in 2016 is “an accolade to the normalisation of the sector, which despite the turmoil in the mortgage market, managed to sell 50,000 more homes”. “Over the next few months, we will see the sales statistics continue to rise, although it is possible that we will see growth rates moderate slightly, driven by higher mortgage rates”, he added. (…) .

Original story: Expansión (by Juanma Lamet)

Translation: Carmel Drake

INE: House Sales Rose By 17.3% YoY In Nov 2016

16 January 2017 – El Economista

House sales rose by 17.3% in November 2016 compared to the same month in 2015, to reach 33,806 operations, according to data published on Thursday by Spain’s National Institute for Statistics (INE).

This increase, which represents the tenth month of consecutive YoY increases, exceeds the rise recorded in October 2016, when those operations rose by 6.5% YoY.

Transactions involving second-hand homes rose by 19.8% with respect to November 2015, to reach 27,996 operations, whilst sales of new homes rose by 6.8% YoY to reach 5,810 transactions.

90.3% of the homes sold during the eleventh month of the year were unsubsidised and 9.7% were protected (unsubsidised). Sales of unsubsidised homes rose by 17.4% YoY in November, to reach 30,514 transactions, meanwhile operations involving protected (subsidised) homes increased by 16.5% to 3,292 transactions.

During the first eleven months of 2016, house sales recorded a cumulative increase of 14.2% compared with the same period in 2015, thanks to an increase of 18.5% in terms of second-hand house sales, whereas new build house sales declined by 1.4%.

In monthly terms (November 2016 compared with October 2015), house sales rose by 15.1%, their highest MoM increase in more than five years.

Andalucía leads the house sales ranking

In November 2016, the highest number of house sales per 100,000 inhabitants was recorded in the Balearic Islands (138), the Community of Valencia (133) and Andalucía and the Canary Islands (99 in both cases).

Andalucía was the region that saw the most absolute house sales during the eleventh month of the year, with 6,541 sales, followed by Cataluña (5,476), the Community of Valencia (5,216) and Madrid (4,563).

The autonomous regions that saw the lowest absolute number of house sales were La Rioja (233), Navarra (363) and Cantabria (440).

In relative terms, the regions that saw the highest YoY variations in the number of house sales were the Balearic Islands (+32.8%), the Canary Islands (+26.3%) and Aragón (+25.8%). YoY increases were recorded in every single autonomous region.

Increase in the total number of properties sold

If we look at rural and urban (homes plus other properties of an urban nature) properties, then property sales in November amounted to 143,470 in total, up by 6.8% compared to the same month in 2015, to reach the highest absolute figure since June. (…).

In November 2016, the highest number of property sales registered per 100,000 inhabitants was recorded in Aragón (628), Castilla y León (604) and La Rioja (577).

Original story: El Economista

Translation: Carmel Drake

INE: House Sales In Balearics Rose By 32.8% In Nov 2016

16 January 2017 – Diario de Ibiza

House sales rose by 32.8% YoY in November in the Balearic Islands, as 1,258 operations were closed, representing the highest increase of all of the autonomous regions.

Of the homes sold, 1,234 were unsubsidised and 24 were protected (subsidised); meanwhile, 232 were new homes, compared with 1,026 second hand, according to data published on Thursday by Spain’s National Institute of Statistics (INE).

The total number of properties sold on the islands in November 2016 amounted to 4,208, up by 2.9% compared to the same month a year earlier.

Overall in Spain, house sales rose by 17.3% in November with respect to the same month in 2015, with 33,806 operations recorded in the property registries, to complete ten consecutive months of increases.

According to the data from INE, house sales grew by 15.1% between October and November 2016.

This monthly rate is 10.6 basis points higher than that registered during the same period a year ago, when the increase amounted to 4.5%, and is the highest monthly variation since 2012.

Second-hand homes

The increase in sales in November was due yet again to the second-hand market, which increased by 19.8% to reach 27,996 transactions, whereby accounting for 82.8% of the house sales registered.

The number of operations involving new homes also rose although to a lesser extent, by 6.8%. 90.3% of all homes sold were unsubsidised compared with just 9.7% that were protected (subsidised).

By autonomous region, the sale of homes grew by 32.8% YoY in the Balearic Islands; by 26.3% in the Canary Islands; and by 25.8% in Aragón, which saw the highest increases. By contrast, La Rioja, País Vasco and Galicia recorded the lowest increases.

In total, the number of properties (rural and urban) registered as sold in the property registries during the month of November stood at 143,470, up by 6.8% compared to the same month in 2015.

In the case of property sales recorded, the increase amounted to 15.6%.

Original story: Diario de Ibiza

Translation: Carmel Drake

House Prices Decrease By The Most In Castellón In 2016

13 December 2016 – El Mundo

House prices are still falling in the province of Castellón, despite the fact that they are rising in Spain as a whole (by 4% over the last 12 months) and have now recorded 10 consecutive quarters of increases.

Castellón closed the third quarter of the year as the province where house prices decreased by the most in the last year, with a YoY decline of 4%. Only in La Rioja have house prices fallen by more than the average for unsubsidised homes, with a decrease of 5%, according to the latest statistics from the Ministry of Development.

At the moment, the average unsubsidised home in the province of Castellón costs €1,027/m2, which represents a decrease of 3.3% compared with the previous quarter and of 4% compared to a year ago.

Castellón is the cheapest place to buy an unsubsidised home at the moment, based on average prices. And the province not only offers the lowest prices, it is also where prices are continuing to decrease despite the increase that they are experiencing across the rest of Spain and also in the rest of the Community of Valencia.

The highest increase in house prices was recorded in the province of Valencia, although Alicante registered the highest prices. In this sense, it is worth noting that, according to the statistics from the Ministry of Development, the average cost of an unsubsidised home amounted to €1,117.1/m2 at the end of Q3 2016. This figure represents an increase of 1.9% with respect to the second quarter of the year and a rise of 4% over the last 12 months. Meanwhile, the average price of unsubsidised homes in Alicante amounted to €1,240.6/m2, having risen by 1.3% during the quarter and by 1.4% in the last year, according to the same sources at the Ministry of Development.

And as house prices continue to decrease in the province of Castellón, so too do the number of home purchases. In this sense, it is worth remembering that Castellón is the province where the number of new home sales has fallen by the most in the last year. Nevertheless, and despite the 46.50% decrease in new house sales across Castellón in the last year, the volume of total transactions is positive due to the vortex experienced in terms of demand for second-hand properties.

In the province of Castellón, 6,043 homes have been sold in the last year, which represents an increase of 6.92% YoY. Despite this rise, with a total of 696 transactions involving new homes in the last year, the province has registered a decrease of 46.50% in terms of the number of operations involving new homes, the highest in all of Spain. Meanwhile, second-hand homes account for the majority of the transactions registered in the province of Castellón, with a total of 5,347 sales, which represents 88.48% of the total, according to the latest data.

Original story: El Mundo (by Berta Ribés)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Tinsa: House Prices Rose By 2.4% YoY In September

10 October 2016 – Expansión

House prices are rising at a strong pace, residential sales are recovering and mortgages are coming back, timidly, along with cranes. The residential market has left its worst years behind it and is setting itself up for a robust recovery, without any signs of the excesses that created the real estate bubble.

Statistics published on Friday confirm that the wind is blowing in the right direction for the real estate sector. The average value of free (unsubsidised) homes grew by 2.4% YoY in September, according to Spain’s largest property appraiser, Tinsa. The cumulative increase in prices during the first nine months of the year amounts to 2.9%.

At the same time, sales of unsubsidised homes also rose in August by 19.9% YoY, driven by the strong performance of the second hand segment, which accounted for 82.8% of the market, according to INE. The number of operations involving new homes rose by 3.3%, whilst the number of second-hand home sales rose by 24.6%.

In August, 35,501 residential properties were sold, up by 7.3% compared to July. The cumulative increase during the first eight months of the year amounted to 14.8%.

Nevertheless, the experts warn that “the monthly variation, albeit positive, is not sufficiently high following the decrease registered in the previous month”, said Manuel Gandarias, Director of Research at Pisos.com. Why? Because in the house sales figures registered in August included operations outstanding from July, due to a Supreme Court ruling regarding late payment interest, which means that the increase should have been greater. “In September, we will also see quite a bulky increase”, added Gandarias.

“The crisis has left a two-speed real estate market and the behaviour of prices and sales will continue to be very uneven”, warned Beatriz Toribio, Head of Research at Fotocasa. The autonomous regions that have seen the highest increases in house sales are the Balearic Islands (49.2%), Cataluña (+41%) and Navarra (+38.1%) Meanwhile, Murcia (-5.2%), Galicia (+4%) and the Community of Madrid (+10.4%) recorded the lowest increases. “The worst is behind us in Cataluña, Madrid, the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands and most of the Mediterranean Coast, but the outlook is not nearly as encouraging in the rest of the country”, said Toribio.

According to Tinsa, prices are growing by more in the Balearic and Canary Islands (+4.4%) than in the rest of Spain, although they are followed very closely by the Mediterranean Coast (+4.3%). In the major cities, prices rose by 2.5% in September. “The worst is behind us, but the recovery will be slow”, summarised Toribio.

Original story: Expansión (by Juanma Lamet)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Ministry Of Development: House Prices Rose By 2% In Q2

16 September 2016 – El Mundo

The average price of unsubsidised homes amounted to €1,506.4 /sqm in the second quarter of 2016, which represents a positive variation of 2% with respect to a year ago and 0.9% compared with the first quarter of the year, according to the Ministry of Development.

This upward variation represents the fifth consecutive quarter of nominal price rises following 26 quarters of YoY decreases in house prices, which began at the end of 2008.

According to the historical series, the average value per square metre in Q2 2016 was 28.3% lower than the maximum level reached during Q1 2008. On the other hand, prices have recovered by 3.5% compared with their minimum values, reached during Q3 2014.

Second-hand house prices rise by more than new house prices

By house age, the average price per square metre of an unsubsidised home aged less than five years old, i.e. the newest properties, amounted to €1,746.8/sqm in Q2 2016. That represents a YoY increase of 0.8%. In terms of properties that are more than five years old, in other words, second-hand homes, the price amounted to €1,500.2/sqm, up by 2.2%.

The Balearic Islands (5.9%) and Navarra (-2.2%) – poles apart

By autonomous community, the Ministry of Development reported that 10 regions registered YoY increases, led by the Balearic Islands (5.9%), Madrid (4.8%), Cataluña (4.6%), the Canary Islands (2.9%), Extremadura (2.4%), Ceuta and Melilla (2.3%) and Galicia (1.4%).

By contrast, the other regions recorded decreases, led by Navarra (-2.2%), Aragón (-1.9%), País Vasco (-1.7%) and Cantabria (-1.3%).

By municipalities with more than 25,000 inhabitants, the highest house prices (for unsubsidised properties) were recorded in San Sebastián (€3,131.1/sqm), Ibiza (€2,689.8/sqm), Barcelona (€2,656.5/sqm), Getxo (€2,645.3/sqm), Madrid (€2,591.7/sqm), Sant Cugat del Vallès (€2,539.7/sqm) and Pozuelo de Alarcón (€2,538.8/sqm).

The lowest prices in municipalities with more than 25,000 inhabitants were recorded in Elda (€508.0/sqm), Jumilla (€563.6/sqm), Villarrobledo (€569.2/sqm), Ontinyent (€569.4/sqm), Novelda (€574.5/sqm) and Villena (€586.9/sqm).

The average price of social housing amounted to €1,107.8/sqm in Q2 2016, down by 0.4% compared to Q1 2016 and up by 1.2% compared to the same period in 2015.

Original story: El Mundo

Translation: Carmel Drake

INE: 36,856 Homes Sold In June, Up By 19.4% YoY

3 August 2016 – Cinco Días

36,856 homes were sold in Spain in June 2016, which represents an increase of 19.4% compared with the same month last year. According to data published on Wednesday by Spain’s National Institute of Statistics (INE), the volume of house sales have now recorded five consecutive months of YoY increases. The number of operations rose by 1.2% in June compared to May and the cumulative volume of sales during the first five months of the year rose by 16.4%.

90.6% of the homes sold in June were unsubsidised (33,390) and 9.4% were social housing properties (3,466). In annual terms, the number of unsubsidised homes sold rose by 20.6% and the number of social housing properties sold increased by 9.2%. Meanwhile, 17.9% of the homes sold in June were new (6,586) and 82.1% were second-hand (30,270). The number of operations involving new homes rose by 2% and the volume of second-hand house sales rose by 24% with respect to June 2015.

In total, the number of properties sold according to the property registers (based on public deeds signed in prior months) in June was 151,447, which represents an increase of 3.3% compared with the same month in 2015.

By region, according the property registries, the total number of properties sold per 100,000 inhabitants reached their highest values in Aragón (651), La Rioja (634) and Castilla y León (569). The Balearic Islands (+20.2%), Madrid (+11.6%) and Cataluña (+10.2%) recorded the highest YoY growth rates. Meanwhile, Galicia (-15.1%), Castilla–La Mancha (-7.3%) and Murcia (-7.2%) recorded the lowest YoY variations.

On the basis of registered house sales, the autonomous regions with the highest number of sales per 100,000 inhabitants were the Balearic Islands (136), Valencia (128) and Canarias (118). The autonomous regions that recorded the highest YoY variations in house sales were the Balearic Islands (+36.2%), Cataluña (+34.4%) and Castilla–La Mancha (+32.3%), and the most significant decreases were seen in Navarra (-12.7%) and La Rioja (-12.2%).

Original story: Cinco Días

Translation: Carmel Drake

INE: House Sales Grew By 16.8% In March

11 May 2016 – El País

House sales increased by 16.8% in March with respect to the same month in 2015, to reach 31,925 operations, according to statistics about the transfer of property rights published by Spain’s National Institute of Statistics (INE). As such, sales recorded two consecutive months of YoY increases, as they also rose in February, by 15.8%. However, the number of transactions in March decreased with respect to the previous month, when 34,771 agreements were signed, and also deteriorated with respect to January (32,417).

Fernando Encinar, Head of Research at Idealista, explained that “the data shows that the normalisation of the market is a reality and seems to be strengthening, with the volume of house sales exceeding 30,000 units each month. However, we will have to wait and see what happens over the next few months, as this easing of the growth rate may indicate that we are approaching the natural sales figure for our sector”.

Once again, INE placed the focus on what it regards as second-hand homes, figures that include new unsold properties that have been on the market for more than two years. In this segment, the volume of transactions increased by 24.2% in YoY terms in March, to reach 25,765 operations, compared with a decline of 6.6% in the sale of new homes during the month, to 6,160 units. Overall, 19.3% of the homes that changed hands were new builds and 80.7% were second hand properties.

There was no variation in terms of the split between unsubsidised and subsidised homes. Just like last month, unsubsidised homes accounted for 89.2% of all sales, whilst the latter represented 10.8%. In annual terms, the number of unsubsidised homes sold rose by 16.5% and the number of subsidised homes sold increased by 18.9%.

The regions with the highest number of sales per 100,000 inhabitants were the Canary Islands (127) and the Balearic Islands (108). The regions that reported the highest YoY variations in terms of the number of house sales were the Canary Islands (52.7%) and Extremadura (34.6%). Meanwhile, La Rioja and Galicia (both with decreases of -3.1%) recorded negative annual growth rates.

Original story: El País (by Sandra López Letón)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Notaries: Foreigners Bought 20% Of All Homes Sold In 2015

10 May 2016 – El Economista

Foreigners purchased 76,680 homes in Spain in 2015, which represents an increase of 12.9% compared with 2014 and means that foreigners accounted for 20% of all the homes purchased last year, according to data from the General Council of Notaries, which shows that the weight of house purchases made by foreigners has been increasing since 2007.

Distinguishing between resident and non-resident foreigners, 51.7% of these purchases were made by non-resident foreigners. Even so, the purchase of unsubsidised homes by resident foreigners increased by 18.2%, which exceeded the rate of growth experienced by non-resident foreign buyers (8.4%).

All of the autonomous regions reported increases in the number of purchases of unsubsidised homes by foreigners. Four regions recorded increases below the national average, namely Cataluña (+4.9%), Comunidad Valenciana (+7.2%), Extremadura (+9.8%) and the Canary Islands (+10.3%).

The other regions recorded increases above the national average, driven in particular by La Rioja (+59.1%), Castilla-La Mancha (+57.3%) and Navarra (+41.5%). Aragón (+39.8%), Castilla y León (+34%), País Vasco (+30.7%), Murcia (+25.8%) and Cantabria (+25.5%) reported slightly lower growth rates.

On the next level, with growth rates slightly above the national average, were Galicia (+23.2%), the Balearic Islands (+22.3%), Madrid (+17.3%) and Andalucía (+13.6%).

In 2015, the regions that recorded the most the purchases of unsubsidised homes by foreigners were: the Balearic Islands (44%), the Canary Islands (39%), Comunidad Valenciana (37%), Murcia (25%) and Andalucía (25%).

By contrast, the regions where operations made by foreigners carried the least weight were: País Vasco, Cantabria, Castilla y León, Galicia and Extremadura, where they accounted for around 4%.

Prices increased by almost 3%

The average price per sqm of house purchases made by foreigners in 2015 amounted to €1,598/sqm, which represents a YoY increase of 2.9%. The average price of homes acquired by non-residents rose by 5.6%, to €1,792/sqm, whilst the average price of properties bought by resident foreigners decreased by 0.1% to €1,367/sqm.

The average price of homes acquired by foreigners was higher than the national average in the Balearic Islands (€2,580/sqm), País Vasco (€2,047/sqm), Madrid (€1,867/sqm) and Cataluña (€1,856/sqm). Prices in the other regions fell below the national average, with the lowest prices recorded in Extremadura (€576/sqm), Castilla-La Mancha (€597/sqm), La Rioja (€710/sqm) and Castilla y León (€712/sqm).

In terms of the nationality of the foreigners who bought homes in Spain, the most active buyers were British (which accounted for 20.6% of the total), followed by the French (8.8%), Germans (7.5%), Belgians (5.7%), Italians (5.5%) and Romanian (5.3%). Those nationalities accounted for more than half of the transactions involving purchases of unsubsidised homes made by foreigners in 2015.

The nationality that increased its level of activity by the most in the market for unsubsidised homes during 2015 was Romanian, with a YoY increase of 59%. In addition, Ecuadorian (+43.1%), British (+37.7%), Moroccan (+25.8%), Italian (+18.5%), Irish (+17.8%), Chinese (+16.8%), Swedish (+15%), Argentine (+14.8%) and Swiss (+13.6%) buyers recorded YoY growth rates above the national average.

Original story: El Economista

Translation: Carmel Drake