The sale and purchase of homes is not detached from the falls and has accumulated ten consecutive months of declines in operations, according to data published this Friday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE). Thus extending its worst streak on record, which dates back to 2015 in its current format.
Consolidated in a context of higher interest rates, in November transactions fell by 15.1% year-on-year, to 46,888 sales. They are four points more than in October (-11.1%) but better than September, the worst month of the year, when operations fell 24%.
If sales are compared to the previous month, transactions increased by a slight 2.1%.
The year-on-year decrease occurs regardless of the type of housing. The new one falls 11.1%, with 8,873 closed operations. In the used one the outlook is worse, with 16% fewer movements and 38,015 operations.
Back to the comparison with last year, only Asturias, Cantabria and Castilla-La Mancha registered more operations than the same month in 2022. They increased by 6.6% (1,037 operations), 5.1% (746 homes) and 2.6% (2,194 homes) respectively.
Among the most important autonomies, operations in Madrid plummeted by 26% to 5,064 homes, with a fall of 16.3% in Catalonia (7,445 homes) and 15.4% in Andalusia (9,857, which has the most movements ).
In any case, the largest decrease at the national level is recorded in Extremadura, where sales decline by a notable 35% with only 567 homes changing hands. La Rioja follows, with a 28% smaller market and 292 homes. Galicia (-22.9%), the Canary Islands (-18.9%), the Basque Country (-17.9%) and the Balearic Islands (-16.9%) were also above the average fall.
"The market slowdown forecasts for this year are coming true, especially in terms of the closing of operations and mortgages granted. This situation, for the moment, does not translate to prices. In the short term, the factors that will mark the future of the sector will be the implementation of the new Housing law and the evolution of the Euribor," said Ferran Font, director of studies at Pisos.com.
