2023-07-14 09:24:45
The aspiration of many families to buy a home is, with each passing day, more difficult to fulfill. With the Euribor rising relentlessly and banks increasingly demanding when it comes to granting loans, house sales fell another 6.4% in May compared to the same month of the previous year. And there are already four consecutive months of declines, after losing 8.1% in April, 5.7% in March and 6.3% in February.
In total, 56,137 homes were sold in the fifth month of the year, according to data on property rights transfers published this Friday by the INE.
The statistics also confirm the surprising change in the type of homes that are sold, with a drop of 8.6% in second-hand homes, already engaging four months of declines but at the lower prices that these properties usually present. In contrast, new home sales grew by 4.1%, the first increase recorded since last January.
The trend is similar if the first five months of 2023 are taken as a reference and indicates that citizens with home ownership are in no rush to sell. Specifically, between January and May sales fell by 4.1%. The decline in used housing has been more pronounced, 4.5%, compared to 2.4% registered for new construction.
The downward behavior of the sector comes in a scenario of interest rate rises that have made it very difficult for families to pay for buying a house or taking out a mortgage.
It was just in April of last year when the Euribor returned to positive ground for the first time in six years. In June it already exceeded 4% in its monthly average. The strong rebound experienced by the indicator to which most mortgages in Spain are referenced coincides with a time when wages have not risen at the same rate as inflation, causing a sharp decline in the purchasing power of households. The rise was only 2.78% in the wages agreed in the agreement until December 2022, compared to an average inflation of 8.4% in the year.
In addition to the rise experienced by mortgages, future buyers are facing another harsh reality that is putting pressure on the market: prices that, despite moderating on rises, do not end up falling to encourage demand.
In a recent analysis of the sector, the Bank of Spain itself warned that, despite the increase in credit prices, house prices will continue to show “greater downward resistance than the quantity variables of the residential market”, such as sales or prices. visas. Among the reasons behind this trend, the supervisor points to the scarcity of new construction, the high costs of construction materials and “the favorable financial situation of the different agents in this market”, which, despite the recent fall, continues to maintain operations at high levels in historical terms.
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