'ROCKETING' house sales in Spain have reached levels not seen in over a decade, according to recently-released statistics – and although the rental market is said to be particularly buoyant at the moment, buyers comfortably exceed would-be tenants.
Industry reports, based upon data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE), say existing residents in Spain only seeking to buy and not open to renting total 44% , compared with those who merely want to rent and are not looking to purchase a home, at 43%, and the remaining 13% are willing to entertain either depending upon the pros and cons for their individual situations.
Back in February this year, around 40% were focused exclusively on buying, and 50% solely on renting.
Of the entire adult population in Spain, during August, 34% had carried out a property transaction – buying, selling or renting – compared with 28% in February and 27% in August 2020.
The previous two Februarys – 2019 and 2020 – saw 28% and 31% of Spain's over-18s making a move, and in the last August before the pandemic, also a record year for tourism numbers, a total of 35% of adults in the country bought, sold or rented a home.
This means 2021 has been similar in numbers to 2019, the final year of 'normal life' before Covid-19 hit Europe.
Swift recovery from Covid-linked decline
Analysis of the official figures shows that it has taken less than six months for the housing market to recover since the worst weeks of the pandemic, and only just over a year since the end of the total national lockdown when 'essential errands' in one's immediate neighbourhood with no pit-stops or delays were the only excuse for being outside the home, and even five minutes on the front doorstep to 'catch some air' could be subject to a fine.
Also, based upon a combination of the INE data and enquiries at estate agencies on- and off-line, the year is showing a 'latent urge' on the part of people living in Spain to purchase new homes.
Lockdowns have triggered a desire for a home with a private garden and pool, or at least more outside space and natural light (photo: La Fuente del Viento/Pinterest)
This 'urge' is at a level 'not seen in over 10 years, never mind since before Covid', according to property market analysts.
As has already been established in the past 18 months, the effects of lockdowns, restrictions and a heightened risk, perceived or actual, of one's own mortality, together with forced time away from family and friends not in the same household, having to work from home for, perhaps, the first time in one's career, and spending more time in the company of the immediate family unit – pets included – have been psychological as well as financial: Those on average or mid-range incomes, unable to spend money on non-essentials due to closures and confinements, built up a buffer-zone, and people all across the earnings scale began to question whether where they lived was where they actually wanted to be.
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