Q1 home sales up 23% in Catalonia

Greater real estate market buzz in Catalonia than in Spain

Xavier Grau
1 min
Les hipoteques toquen fons

BarcelonaThe year-on-year home sales figure in Catalonia shot up by 23 per cent in the first quarter of 2017, according to data published on Thursday by Spain’s National Statistics Institute (INE).

The first three months of 2017 saw 19,646 home sales in Catalonia, whereas only 15,933 were sold in the same period last year. That is 3,713 up from 2016, a trend that kept its pace month after month and actually picked up speed in March.

In March 2017 6,832 flats were sold in Catalonia, a 31 per cent rise over the same quarter last year.

The Q1 figures show that the real estate market is bouncing back all over Spain, but at a greater pace in Catalonia. In the first three months of 2017, 114,528 homes were sold in all of Spain, roughly a 15 per cent hike from the first quarter of 2016, when 99,620 home sales were recorded.

Both in Spain and Catalonia, March this year saw this trend pick up pace, with 40,461 sales versus 31,877 in 2016. That is nearly a 27 per cent rise. Therefore, quarterly and monthly figures both show a noticeably higher increase in Catalonia, well above the Spanish average.

The purchase of second hand homes remains the driving force behind the real estate market, particularly in Catalonia. Out of all home sold in Q1 in Catalonia this year, over 87 per cent were second hand homes and only 13 per cent were brand new properties. In contrast, second hand flats accounted for 82 per cent of all home sales in Spain as a whole, with new properties rising to 18 per cent.

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