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Property Sales Increased 9.6% in May

House sales increased 23.6% in May

House sales increased 23.6% in May

The total number of properties sold in May increased by 9.6% when compared to the same month in the previous year, to reach 150,827 transactions.

When looking at only residential property the increase over the previous year is much higher at 23.6%, reaching 36,425 transactions, according to data released by the National Statistics Institute (INE). This further confirms the property market is stable in Spain as the number of properties sold in May takes us back to the levels last seen in January 2013, when 39,920 homes were sold.

Of the total property transaction carried out in May 84.4% referred to urban property while 15.6% were rustic. In the case of urban properties, 57.6% were house sales.

The number of rural properties purchased increased by 8.1% in May, on the annual rate, while urban property sales increased by 22.2%. In the case of urban housing, the annual increase is 23.6%.

In May the monthly rate is 3.5%, which is 4.5 points less than in the same month in the previous year when May showed an 8% monthly increase.

Of the total houses sold in May 89.3% referred to free-property while 10.7% referred to protected property.

In annual terms, the number of free-housing transactions increased by 22.7%, while sales of protected housing increased by 31.7%.

Of the properties sold in May, 19.2% were new-build property, while 80.8% referred to resale (second-hand) property. For new-build property the number sold represents an increase of 12% over the same month in 2015, while the number of resale property transactions increased 26.7%.

By Autonomous Community

When looking at property sales in May by community per 100,000 residents, the highest values are seen in La Rioja with 717, followed by Castilla y León (634) and Aragon (604).

The highest annual increases were seen in the Balearic Islands, Murcia and the Basque Country with increases of 40.4%, 31%, and 27.1%, respectively.

Three communities recorded negative growth on the annual rate. They were Galicia (-22.5%), La Rioja (-6.9%) and Cantabria (-4.7%).

When looking only at house sales the highest number of sales in communities per 100,000 residents was once again in the Balearic Islands with 159 transactions, followed by La Rioja with 155.

The Balearic Islands also topped the list of communities on the annual rate of change on house sales with a 70% increase, followed closely by La Rioja with a 68.9% increase.

In contrast, Navarra recorded an annual change of -20.2%, while Cantabria recorded a small increase of 1.7%.