The Spanish housing market has experienced another slowdown as home sales fell by 1.8 per cent in April compared to the same month last year, according to the latest data released by the Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE). This latest decline marks the fourth consecutive month of contraction for residential property transactions across the country.
A total of 53,241 home sales were registered during April, representing the lowest monthly volume since December 2024. Despite the downward trend, property experts noted that the figure still represents the second-highest transaction total for the month of April in the last decade, indicating that the market maintains a baseline level of activity despite shifting conditions. The year started with a 5 per cent drop in January, followed by a minor dip of 0.5 per cent in February, and a 2.2 per cent decrease in March, leaving a cumulative decline of 2.4 per cent for the first four months of the year.
The downturn was heavily driven by a contraction in the social housing sector and secondary market properties. Transactions involving subsidized or state-protected housing (vivienda protegida) plummeted by 12.3 per cent interannually to 3,295 operations, accounting for just 6.2 per cent of the market. Meanwhile, open-market housing transactions dipped by a minor 1 per cent, totaling 49,946 sales. On a month-on-month basis compared to March, total transactions suffered a double-digit slide of 13.1 per cent, with secondhand housing sales falling by 13.4 per cent and new builds dropping by 12.2 per cent.
Regional performance varied significantly across Spain. Seven autonomous communities recorded declines in home sales, with the sharpest drops registered in Navarra, where transactions plunged by 29 per cent, and Madrid, which saw an 11 per cent decline. Decreases were also felt across other major coastal and regional markets, including a 9.4 per cent drop in Castilla y León, a 7.2 per cent fall in Galicia, a 7 per cent decrease in the Comunitat Valenciana, a 3.7 per cent decline in the Baleares, and a 3 per cent dip in Andalucía.
Conversely, ten regions managed to buck the national downward trend. Cantabria recorded the strongest growth with a double-digit rise of 22.5 per cent, followed by an 8.8 per cent increase in the País Vasco, and a 7.8 per cent growth rate in Cataluña. Other regions experiencing modest growth included Castilla-La Mancha, Asturias, Aragón, Canarias, La Rioja, Extremadura, and Murcia.
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