Seventh consecutive month of rising property sales, reveals INE

HOUSING market figures for the end of November showed an 18.1% rise in sales for that month based upon the same 30 days in 2016, according to the National Institute of Statistics (INE).

Year-end sales results are not yet compiled by the INE, but as at the beginning of November, property purchases had been rising consistently in number for seven months.

After a buoyant October, with an increase of 25.7% in home purchases, the following month saw housing market growth slowing down slightly, ending with a total of 40,579 residential properties changing hands.

According to the INE, home sales in Catalunya rose in November by 15.6%, showing that the political crisis caused by the disputed independence referendum the previous month had not affected buyers' decisions to invest in the region.

Overall, sales of pre-owned properties for the month of November showed a 15.8% year-on-year increase, totalling 33,100, whilst 7,479 new builds were sold, revealing a 29.8% rise compared with the same month in 2016.

Although year-on-year growth in sales was much greater in October at 25.7% than November's 18.1%, numbers of residential homes purchased in the latter were up 9% on the former for 2017.