May saw a huge 23.6% rise in the number of sales of Spanish properties year-on-year. The number of sales in the month hit 36,425 and was the highest monthly total since January 2013.

May’s sales were mainly made up of resales with 80.8% of all properties sold during the month being resales while just 19.2% were new-build. This said, both new-build and resales saw totals rise year-on-year by 12% and 26.7% respectively.

Regional results

The region with the highest number of sales in May was Andalusia at 7,013, it was followed by Catalonia at 5,591 and the Valencian Community with 5,082 while Madrid was in 4th place after registering 4,952 sales for the month.

The only region to see sales fall year-on-year was Navarra with a decrease of 20.2%. The strongest increases were seen in the Balearics: +70%, La Rioja: 68.9% and Murcia: 61.8%.

In addition to the Balearics and Murcia all other tourist regions saw double digit increases in sales. In the Canary Islands growth stood at 38.7%, in Catalonia the increase was 27.7%, Andalusia: 13.7% and the Valencian Community: 13.2%.

Significance

The increases in prices and sales continue rolling in for Spanish property and the signs are extremely good for the coming years. The Brexit has had an effect on confidence in the market but we expect that effect to wane over time particularly with a rebound in the strength of the pound once more clarity is brought to the UK’s new role in Europe.

The best gauges of the reaction of British buyers of Spanish property to the Brexit will come when the Registrars release their data on foreign buyers for the second and third quarters of 2016 as well as the mood at the A Place in the Sun exhibitions in Birmingham and Glasgow later this year.

Main image: Artist’s impression of the Loirados development on the Costa Blanca ©Patrimi Resorts S.L.