Data from Spanish notaries – considered to be a more accurate picture due to the timing of the recording of the statistics – has shown 364,601 property sales in Spain last year, up 19% on 2013.
Because they are recorded at the moment of sale, the notaries’ data is taken to be a better ‘snapshot’ of the property market at a particular time. Government statistics are recorded from registration data, which can take up to two months to record from the moment of sale, thereby distorting the accuracy of the number of sales taking place in a month.
The figures from the notaries show just 10.8% of sales related to new build homes (down from 14% in 2013 and around 40% at the 2007/8 peak) and that around 80% of all sales were of apartments.
Further revelations include the average price of new build apartments (€1,624/m², compared to €1,347/m² for resale flats) and that detached properties averaged just €1,016/m².
