Sales of new property increased 2.4%
There were 39,945 housing sales in February, representing an annual increase of 2.7%, according to the latest report from the Council of Notaries.
By type of property, the sale of apartments increased by 6.2%, while sales of single-family homes showed a notable fall of 11.6%, year-on-year.
The increase in sales of apartments was due to both growth in second-hand housing sales (+8.2%) and also for sales of new property (+2.4%).
In terms of average price, a square metre purchased in February cost €1,349, the same cost as in the same period last year. This was due to the increase in the cost of a square metre in apartments (+1.1%) and the fall in the price of single-family homes (-2.6% year-on-year).
The purchase and sale of other types of property stood at 8,575 operations in February, -7.9% year-on-year. Of those, 37.4% correspond to land or plot sales. The average price per square metre of land stood at €233 (+4.7% year-on-year).
Mortgages
The number of new mortgages approved in February was 25,708, which represents an increase of 1.6% year-on-year. This was due to the increase in loans for the purchase of homes (+13%) and the sharp decrease in mortgages for other property types (-22.7%).
The average amount of a new mortgage was €136,898 (+0.4% year-on-year). In the case of housing, the average capital was €129,922, a slight increase of 0.1% year-on-year. For other types of property, the average loan reached €230,469 (+7.6% year-on-year).
New loans for the purpose of construction showed an annual decrease of 13.8% in February, up to 400 operations. The average amount of those loans was €396,296, representing a strong year-on-year decrease of 20.3%. On the other hand, the average amount of a loan for the construction of a house fell by 24.8% to €262,076.
Mortgages to finance business activities experienced a short year-on-year fall of 23.9%, to 240 operations. Furthermore, the average amount of these loans fell by 33.1% year-on-year to €574,459.
Finally, the percentage of home purchases financed by a mortgage in February stood at 47.2%. Additionally, in this type of purchase with financing, the loan amount averaged 76.1% of the property value.
