122,787 properties sold between January and March 2017
2017 has started well with 122,787 properties sold between January and March in Spain. We have to go back to 2008 to beat this, when 159.088 were sold. These figures come from conveyances in notaries in Spain.
The 2017 figure represents a growth of 18.5% year on year over the same quarter in 2016. In the last twelve months, from April 2016 to March 2017, 476,933 homes were sold in Spain, which is 13.6% more than in the previous 12 months Purchases by foreign residents were 19,805, linking 23 consecutive quarters of year-on-year increases. This is good news for the housing market and applies equally to new builds and resales.
Comparing the first quarter of 2017 with the same period of 2016, all the autonomous communities recorded increases in the number of housing sales, except La Rioja, with a fall of -1.6%. Of note were Aragón (53.5%), Asturias (32.5%), Catalonia (27.6%), Cantabria (26.6%) and Castilla-La Mancha (26.3%). Although the national total in the first quarter was above 2009 levels, several autonomous communities, such as Madrid, Catalonia, and the Balearic Islands, were above levels of 2008 which is very positive for a continued recovery.
Andalusia was up 20.3% compared to the same quarter in 2016. In fact All the autonomous communities, except La Rioja with a fall of 3.2%, were up on last year. The municipalities registering a greater number of sales in the first quarter in Andalusia were Seville (2,007) and Málaga (1,778).
With regard to the open market, transactions during the first quarter of 2017 amounted to 117,477, with council properties totalling 5,310.
As regards resales or new builds, 10,771 transactions corresponded to new housing, which represents 8.8% of the total. Resales amounted to 112,016 operations, accounting, obviously, for 91.2% of total sales.
As regards nationality of the buyer, transactions carried out by foreigners resident in Spain experienced year-on-year growth for the 23rd consecutive quarter up -17.9% compared to the first quarter of 2016, totalling 19,805 sales.
As a whole, sales by foreigners (residents and non-residents) captured 20,593, or 16.8% of the total market.
Málaga once more performed strongly with 2,206 sales. The Costa del Sol proving popular.
Sources:
The Spanish Ministry of Development through data provided by the College of Notaries on property sales formalized in public deed in a notary office.
