MADRID, 5 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The residential market in Spain increased sales by 16% during the first half of this year and 36% compared to the average of the last five years, according to the report on the residential market in Spain prepared by Savills.

With regard to prices, they have registered an advance of close to 4% since the beginning of the year, which represents a rise of 8% year-on-year.

After a 2021 with more than 600,000 homes sold, the highest number since 2008, in 2022 sales have continued to grow and those in the first half have marked the fifth highest historical record for a first half and the highest since 2007.

The ten cities in Spain that lead the sales ranking account for more than 18% of total sales. Among them are Madrid, which leads the ranking, followed by Barcelona, ​​Valencia and Seville.

In relation to the imbalance between sales of new and second-hand work, practically 90% of sales are made from second-hand products, exceeding the historical average of 70%.

This situation is mainly due, according to the report, to the lack of finalist land to promote new developments.

In any case, during the first quarter of this year, development activity continued to grow compared to 2021, the year in which the start of 100,504 homes was registered, the highest number since 2008.

Although there are no official data yet, according to the analysis, a slowdown is expected since some projects have halted the start of pending an improvement in market conditions due to the increase in construction and financing costs, currently , construction materials futures show a significant decline, which seems to signal additional adjustments and less pressure on the residential production chain.

The province of Madrid concentrated 21% of all housing starts in Spain in 2021, with 20,605 units.

Barcelona, ​​Seville, Malaga and Valencia complete the first five positions, with activity significantly lower than that of Madrid.

Of the total housing starts in Spain, at least 7% will be destined for the rental market.

Regarding the evolution of prices, according to the report, the positive trend that began in 2014 is maintained, with growth of just over 6% in 2021.

This trend has accelerated throughout the first half of 2022, with year-on-year growth of close to 9% in the case of new-build housing and 8% in the second-hand market.

According to Savills, tight supply and strong demand levels have been the main reasons for this development.

Likewise, the demand by foreigners has also broken a record in 2021 with 102,990 homes, of which 43% have been acquired by foreigners not residing in Spain.

As usual, the British buyer is the one who bought the most homes in 2021, followed by Germans and French, all of them buyers of vacation or retirement homes.

During the first part of this year, the ranking of foreign buyers has remained the same, with British, German and French purchases leading.

The Savills report concludes that the low supply of new construction together with a demand that, although not as strong as previous years, will continue to be very active, will allow for good sales levels to be achieved.

The consultant estimates that 560,000 units sold will be exceeded in 2022, above the historical average.