ARCHIVED - Spanish house sales doubled in May in comparison with lockdown-affected 2020 figures

Activity in the Spanish property market was close to its highest level for 13 years in May

Now that the effect of pandemic restrictions has begun to wear off more and more evidence is accumulating that activity in the Spanish property market has returned to pre-coronavirus levels, and this impression is further strengthened by the latest provisional sales figures published by the national government on Tuesday.

The data relating to May show that 47,033 homes changed hands during the month, not only representing a rise of 107.6 per cent over the same month last year but also nearing the highest monthly figure in the last 13 years, as the last time the monthly total topped 50,000 was in April 2008!

As ever, the figures can be contextualized by analysing the rolling 12-monthly total, and it can now be seen that since this point last year the number of residential property sales registered in Spain stands at just under 462,000. For the first time since late 2019 this represents an increase over the equivalent figure 12 months previously, albeit a slight one at 1.1 per cent, and it can only be concluded that the recent surge in sales is rectifying the effect of the pandemic rapidly.

It is no surprise that during May all 17 regions of Spain reported year-on-year increases in property sales, with the highest reported by Murcia (206 per cent), the Canaries (177 per cent) and La Rioja (147 per cent). However, for the third consecutive month the Balearics footed the table after recording a rise of “only” 61.6 per cent in comparison with May 2020.