Despite the fact that in July 2020, the number of real estate purchase and property transactions fell by 32.4% (compared to July 2019) on an annual basis, an increase of 20% (compared to June) was registered on a monthly basis.
Data from the National Statistics Institute of Spain suggest that after lifting of the quarantine, the market came alive significantly and went up very quickly. The rising number of transactions by 20% – is the highest indicator for the seventh month of the year over the past five years.
Anais Lopez, Director of Communications at Fotocasa, is confident that the data for July show a positive trend in the development of the sector: in the next few months, the decline indicators on an annual average basis promise to be even lower. «The data suggests that demand is reviving very quickly, and that many potential buyers tend to change housing, – the expert notes, – this keeps us optimistic about the future of the real estate sector and gives hope that its recovery will happen faster than expected.»
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, sales on the Spanish real estate market declined 18.6% in March, 39.2% in April, 53.7% in May and 34.3% in June, year-on-year. In July, as already mentioned, sales decreased by 32.4% compared to last year: by 34.9% (up to 25,887 operations) in the secondary housing market and by 21.2% (up to 6,767 operations) in the new construction market.
89% of the total number of properties sold in July accounted for the free market, and 11% − for social housing.
The Valencian community was the leader in the number of purchase and sale transactions for every 100,000 inhabitants in July (118). This is followed by the Basque Country (116) and La Rioja (112). In absolute terms, Andalusia (6620) is the leader in the number of transactions during this period. Catalonia is in second place (5,032), the Valencian community is in third place (4,676), and Madrid is in fourth place (3,890).
Year-on-year, in July, falling sales were registered in all autonomous communities, with the exception of the Basque Country (+14.7%), Asturias (-15.1%) and Extremadura (-16.9%), which showed the lowest decline. At the opposite end of the list are the Canary Islands (-54.8%), the Balearic Islands (-42.9%) and Madrid (-41.1%).
