House sales rise by 7%

According to figures released by the Association of Property Registrars (el Colegio de Registradores de la Propiedad) there were 117,911 house sales during the first quarter of 2010 which represents a rise of 7% compared to the same period last year. It is also a rise of 16.28% compared to the last quarter of 2009 and represents the highest volume of sales for over a year and a half.

The biggest growth in property sales has been in the used housing sector with an increase of 16.9% compared to an increase of 15.6% in sales of new housing. The Association of Property Registrars thinks that this is a good indicator of an improvement in the housing market. It also believes that these results represent a ‘slow and progressive recovery of the importance of used housing’ given that this sector accounts for 48.5% of all operations.

Over the last 12 months there have been 24,535 transactions involving new state subsidised housing (VPO) making up 10.

70% of all house sales. This represents an increase in the relative importance of this type of housing in the property market which, according to the Association of Property Registrars, is normal in housing cycles such as the present one.