MADRID, 22 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The sale and purchase of homes registered a decrease of 9.7% in 2023 compared to the previous year, up to a total of 586,913 operations, as reported this Thursday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE).

With this annual drop, home sales return to declines after having chained two years of consecutive double-digit increases. Specifically, in 2022 and 2021 sales registered increases of 14.8% and 34.8%, respectively.

The decline in home sales in 2023 has been due to the decrease in both second-hand apartment operations and new home sales.

Specifically, the purchase and sale of used homes decreased by 10.8% last year, totaling 476,019 operations, while transactions carried out on new apartments fell by 4.8%, to 110,894 operations.

92.4% of the homes transferred by sale during the last year were free homes and 7.6% were protected. In total, the purchase and sale of free homes fell by 9.5% in 2023, to 542,324 transactions, while the purchase and sale of protected homes fell by 12.1%, to total 44,589 transactions.

ASTURIAS, THE ONLY COMMUNITY THAT RAISED PURCHASES IN 2023

Andalusia was the region that carried out the most housing transactions last year, with 119,479 sales and purchases, followed by the Valencian Community (96,490), Catalonia (91,630) and Madrid (70,147).

In relative values, the sale and purchase of homes fell in 2023 in all communities, except in Asturias, where it rose by 5.6%. The largest declines were recorded in the Balearic Islands (-19.9%), La Rioja (-18%) and Madrid (-16%), while the most moderate falls were recorded in Castilla y León (-3%) and in Castilla -La Mancha and Valencian Community (-3.9% in both cases).

PURCHASES FALL 15.6% YEAR-YEAR IN DECEMBER

In the last month of 2023, home sales fell 15.6% compared to December 2022, totaling 36,698 operations, the lowest figure in three years. With this decline, there are eleven consecutive months of year-on-year declines.

Last December, 6,878 new home sales were made, the lowest number since August 2020, after registering a year-on-year decrease of 11.9%.

The sale and purchase of second-hand homes, for its part, fell 16.4% year-on-year, to 29,820 transactions, the lowest figure in three years.

Likewise, in an inter-monthly rate (December 2023 compared to November of the same year), the sale and purchase of homes fell by 21.7%, with falls of 22.5% in operations on new homes and 21.6% in that of new homes. used homes.

THE TOTAL PROPERTIES TRANSFERRED DOWN BY 6.1% IN 2023

Adding rural and urban properties (homes and other urban properties), the properties transferred in 2023 totaled 2,110,241, a figure that represents a decrease of 6.1% compared to 2022.

Last year, 8.3% fewer properties were transferred through purchase and sale than in 2022, up to 1,144,437 operations.

According to INE data, the number of purchases and sales of rural properties fell by 5.9% in 2023, to a total of 148,621 operations. For their part, sales of urban properties (which include homes) decreased by 8.7%, to 995,816 transactions.