Recently published data from the Spanish governments central statistics unit reveals that 43,695 residential properties changed hands during the month of February 2019, amounting to a 5.3% increase compared to the same month last year.
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Following the first year-on-year decrease in ten months in January, fourteen of Spain’s seventeen regions recorded growth in home transactions during February, most notably in La Rioja where an astonishing 71% increase was reported. Elsewhere Galicia and Castilla La-Mancha recorded growth of 22.6% and 21.9% respectively. At the other end of the scale there were falls in home sales in the Canary Islands (20.6%) and Balearic Islands (12%). Falls in the Balearics are becoming a common feature in the monthly statistics, it is the only Spanish region that recorded a lower annual total in 2018 than the previous year.
As is usually the case, Andalucía recorded the highest number of residential home sales (8,193) during February, which amounts to year-on-year growth of 5.4% in line with the national average. This is due in large part to the popularity of Málaga and our very own Costa del Sol, both of which have also recorded price rises during the start of 2019.
Of the total 43,695 homes sold the large majority (34,899) were re-sale properties, however the number of new homes sold (8,796) grew an impressive 18% compared to the same month 2018 as more new build developments are being completed.
Over the last five years since the market bottomed out in February 2014 the level of home sales activity in Spain has increased some 76.5%. The running twelve monthly total currently stands at 517,000, not only 7.2% higher than in February 2018 but also the highest figure since January 2009.