The real estate market continues to explode after the severe blows received by the covid-19 crisis. The sale of homes registered in the property registers has increased in August by 57.9% compared to the same month last year, reaching 49,884 operations, the highest result in this month since 2007, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE) published this Friday. With the interannual advance of August, the sale of homes accumulates six consecutive months of positive rates after the increases of 32.4% and 65.9% registered in March and April, respectively, from 107.6% in May, from 73 , 5% in June and 53.5% in July. The number of home sales in August is also the second highest number of transactions carried out in any month since April 2008, only surpassed by the one registered last July, when there were more than 50,000 transactions.
This rebound is mainly determined by the increase in operations for new homes, which have risen 40.9% in relation to August 2020 and have seen seven months of growth. The sale of used flats is also on a roll, registering a rise of 62.6% in year-on-year terms.
In August, the sale of homes has fallen by 0.7% compared to July, its smallest decrease in this month since 2017. In the first eight months of the year, the sale of homes accumulated an increase of 37.2%, with rises of 43.4% in operations on new homes and 35.7% in the case of second-hand ones.
87.7% of sales in August correspond to urban properties and 12.3% to rustic properties. The number of merchantings of rustic properties increased by 16.6% in the annual rate and that of urban properties by 46.3%. 91.6% of the homes transferred by sale in August are free and 8.4% are protected. In its interannual variation, the number of free dwellings transferred by sale increased by 58.7% and that of protected by 50.1%.
According to the Idealista spokesman, Francisco Iñareta, in statements collected by Efe, the progressive exit from the pandemic, the record levels of family savings, the low interest rates of the ECB and the best mortgage conditions in years keep the appetite of the Spanish for the purchase. If this sales rhythm is maintained, “it is likely that the available supply will suffer significantly and cause future price tensions,” he added.
Andalusia leads housing operations
The autonomous communities with the highest number of transmitted farms registered in the property registers per 100,000 inhabitants are Castilla y León (766), La Rioja (760) and Aragón (638). The Basque Country (43.5%), Madrid (43.0%) and La Rioja (38.7%) register the highest annual variation rates. On the other hand, Extremadura (0.1%), Canarias (6.4%) and Galicia (7.3%) show the lowest increases.
With regard to registered home sales, the communities with the highest number of transfers per 100,000 inhabitants are the Valencian Community (183), La Rioja (181) and Andalusia (155). In absolute values, the region that carried out the most transactions on dwellings during the eighth month of the year was Andalusia, with 10,401 purchases, followed by Catalonia (7,606), the Valencian Community (7,339) and Madrid (7,321).
The Autonomous Communities with the highest annual increases in the number of home sales in August were La Rioja (84.8%), Madrid (77.3%) and the Valencian Community (72.0%). For their part, the Basque Country (8.3%), Cantabria (20.0%) and Extremadura (21.0%) registered the lowest increases.