The Spanish housing market continued to show vigorous levels of activity after the pandemic, at the beginning of 2022.
According to the latest figures published by the National Institute of Statistics (INE), the interest in buying a house continues to be very high and the number of operations shot up 31% in January.
In total there were 52,684 purchases, which is the highest figure for the first month of the year since 2008.
In a monthly comparison, the number of home purchases in January was 9% higher than in December.
This is the third time since the start of the pandemic that home sales exceed the 50,000 barrier.
Second-hand homes
The sales of second-hand houses continue to be the majority. However, the sale of new-build homes maintains its growth, in line with the trend of recent months. According to INE data, of the total homes sold in January, 19% were new (9,942 dwellings) and 81% used (42,692 dwellings).
The number of new home sales increased by 17.2% compared to January 2021 and has already accumulated 15 consecutive months of increases. The sales of used homes increased by 34.7%, with eleven consecutive months of year-on-year increases.
By region, those with the largest year-on-year increases in the number of sales in January were La Rioja (71.4%), the Balearic Islands (53.2%) and the Canary Islands (40.5%). The smallest increases were recorded in Aragón (9.5%) and Extremadura (15.7%). The only region with a decrease was Navarre (-19.7%).
