The sale and purchase of homes falls 14.4% in August and marks its lowest figure in this month since 2020

MADRID, 24 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The sale and purchase of homes registered a decrease of 14.4% in August compared to the same month last year, to a total of 49,252 operations, its lowest figure in this month since 2020, in a context of higher interest rates for contain inflation, as reported this Tuesday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE).

With this year-on-year decline, the most pronounced since January 2021 and almost four points higher than that registered in July (-10.5%), the sale and purchase of homes has had seven months of negative year-on-year rates.

The decline in home sales in August has been due to the drop in both second-hand apartment transactions and new home transactions.

Specifically, the sale and purchase of used homes fell by 15.9% in the eighth month of the year, totaling 39,827 operations, while transactions carried out on new apartments decreased by 7.3%, to 9,425 operations.

92.6% of the homes transferred by sale in August were free homes and 7.4% were protected. In total, the purchase and sale of free homes fell by 14.5% year-on-year, to 45,615 transactions, while the purchase and sale of subsidized homes fell by 13.9%, to a total of 3,637 transactions.

In a month-on-month rate (August over July), home sales rose 2%, its smallest rise in this month since 2021.

According to the INE, two out of every three home sales carried out in August (68.3%) were carried out between natural persons. In total, 33,631 operations of this type were carried out between natural persons in August, 15.2% less than in the same month of 2022.

In the first eight months of the year, the sale and purchase of homes has been reduced by 6.5%, after operations on new homes fell by 2% and those on used homes fell by 7.5%.

PURCHASES DOWN IN 15 COMMUNITIES

Last August, the highest number of home sales per 100,000 inhabitants occurred in the Valencian Community (192) and Andalusia and Cantabria, both with 154.

In absolute values, Andalusia was the region that carried out the most housing transactions during the eighth month of the year, with 10,519 sales and purchases, followed by the Valencian Community (8,093), Catalonia (7,208) and Madrid (5,518).

Fifteen communities sold fewer homes in August 2023 than in the same month of 2022. The sharpest declines occurred in the Balearic Islands (-37.7%), the Canary Islands (-25.6%), Madrid (-22.9%) and Catalonia (-17.1%), while the most moderate were for Castilla-La Mancha and Castilla y León (-0.9% in both cases).

On the other hand, the sale and purchase of homes increased in August in an interannual rate in two regions: Navarra, where operations increased by 8.7%, and Asturias (3.7%).

THE TOTAL PROPERTIES TRANSFERRED FALL BY 7%

The properties transferred in the property registries, from public deeds carried out previously, reached 166,982 last August, 7.3% less than in the same month of the previous year.

By purchase and sale, 11.5% fewer properties were transferred than a year before, while those transferred by donation fell by 4.8% annually; those transmitted by inheritance increased by 2.4%, and exchange operations soared by 46.8%.

88.3% of August sales corresponded to urban properties, which include homes, and 11.7% to rural properties. Sales of urban properties decreased by 12.6% year-on-year, while those of rural properties decreased by 1.8% compared to August 2022, totaling 82,904 and 11,013 transactions, respectively.