A HOUSING market 'boom' at a most unlikely time and one that's not expected to turn to 'bust' means the immediate future seems bright for those in the property trade or planning to rent or sell their home – and experts in the field have revealed what's been happening in the past couple of months, and what they think the New Year will bring.
Figures for the very end of 2021 have not yet been released – when they do, a full analysis of the past year can be conducted – but from what we know so far from National Statistics Institute (INE) data, over 530,000 sales in the previous 12 months, despite the pandemic, are known to have been closed.
This is the highest ever seen since the year 2008 when the early-Millennium property 'bubble' burst spectacularly, and number-crunchers specialising in the property market believe this industry has entered a new 'Golden Age'.
Lessons were learned last time, though, so there seems to be far less danger of a subsequent implosion; home value rises are more gradual and realistic, and banks more cautious about lending money to buy them, whilst the 'building fever' of the first five years of the century looks unlikely to return. Back at the time of the 'crash' which began in 2008, inflated residential property prices, excess of supply and a subsequent downturn in jobs in the construction industry were what turned the tables, but greater prudence has been exercised since then, along with an historically-low Euribor, or Eurozone interest rate, keeping mortgages much more affordable than 14 years ago.
Apartments versus houses: Sale volume and value rises
The last full month for which the INE has figure available is November 2021, when a year-on-year increase in sales and purchase transactions of 25.9% was reported – a total of 63,080 homes changed hands, of which two-thirds were flats or apartments.
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