housing sales

House sales maintain a decline as results show that sales have fallen by 19% in first half of 2012. Despite the negative overall trend, Lleida and Tarragona saw a boost in sales last month, making up for the reduction in sales experienced in Barcelona and Girona, culminating in a 2.7% overall increase in sales this June for Catalonia. In Spain, the fall in the first half of the year was 21% and in June, in contrast to the increase Catalonia, there was a fall of 11.2% compared with June 2011.

House prices have dropped for 17 consecutive quarters in Catalonia. Last quarter’s drop was the highest since the crisis in the sector began in 2008, falling by 14.6% in the last 12 months. In Spain as a whole, house prices dropped by 11.8%.

A study by a Catalan savings bank CatalunyaCaixa recommends helping young people to rent empty apartments in order to reduce the stock. The stock is expected to rise to 131,100 houses in Catalonia, while in the whole Spain the figures will reduce to 693,000 by 2015. However the situation is not the same throughout Catalonia, and some places such as Barcelona have a smaller stock in relation.

With this label, foreign house buyers can be 100% sure that the new bought property fulfils all the quality and town planning regulations. The Catalan Minister for Territory and Sustainability, in charge of Housing, Lluís Recoder, announced the creation of an official label recognising the “quality of real estate”, in order to offer more legal safety and guarantees to consumers. Recoder hopes this certificate will help the sector, as consumers will be in a safe framework, from a juridical point of view.

In Spain as a whole housing sales dropped by 38%.New-build apartment sales in Catalonia fell by 35% in August, compared to the same month in 2010.

In larger cities, the new housing stock is much smaller and in Barcelona it is almost non existent. However, in other towns and rural areas the current stock will not be completely absorbed until 2015, according to a study from CatalunyaCaixa. Prices will stabilise in larger cities and still drop by 10% where the larger stocks are concentrated. The Catalan housing market is now in better shape than in the rest of Spain. In Catalonia the new housing stock decreased by 2,000 units, while in Spain as a whole it increased by 2%.

During the first three months of 2011, housing prices dropped by 4.5% compared to the same period in 2010. The end of fiscal advantages for property purchase is the main reason behind this drop. The average square metre price in Catalonia is now set at 2,145.2 euros. These prices have not been seen since early 2006 and represent a 14% drop compared with the historic maximum in 2008.

Compared to 2009, real estate sales increased by 21.4% in Catalonia. The Catalan market’s activity triples the Spanish average. However, forecasts for 2011 are no so optimistic due to the VAT increase and the end of the fiscal deduction for purchasing houses and flats.

Catalonia has experienced the 8th month in a row of continuous increases in housing sales in relation to the same month of last year. This data confirms the slow recovery of the sector. However, in comparison to July 2010, housing sales dropped 6%.

It is the 6th month in a row that the sales of houses and flats have grown in Catalonia. 30% more flats have been sold in relation to last year, confirming the recovery of the market.