Date Published: 08/04/2021
ARCHIVED - Property sales and mortgage activity drop sharply in the region of Valencia, say registrars
ARCHIVED ARTICLE
The national figures show that mortgage activity is falling while sales figures remain steady
The latest monthly bulletin published on Wednesday by Spain’s property registrars reports that during February the number of residential property sales and purchases registered in the region of Valencia fell by 12.6 per cent in comparison with the same month in 2020, while at the same time the number of mortgages registered on properties changing hands dropped by 13.5 per cent.
These figures represent a rather less encouraging situation than that of the country as a whole, where during February the number of residential property sales and purchases registered fell by only 3.7 per cent to 42,028. However, at the same time the number of mortgages registered on properties changing hands dropped by a far more significant 12.8 per cent to 29,868.
The minimal decrease in sales appears to indicate that the immediate effect of the coronavirus on the market is now over – last spring falls of over 50 per cent in sales figures were observed - as the comparative data in February last year still refer to the period prior to the introduction of a national state of emergency in mid-March 2020. However, while sales figures are largely at the same level as a year ago, the reliance on mortgage financing has dropped significantly, possibly due to a far lower level of job security among purchasers and a resulting loss of willingness on the part of lending banks to offer advantageous terms.
At the same time, though, it is worth pointing out that while these generalizations might be true for the country as a whole, there is considerable variation in the February figures among the 17 regions of Spain. Among the eight regions in which fewer sales were registered this February the most significant decreases are reported in the Balearic and Canary Islands (-18.2 per cent and -14.6 per cent respectively) and the Comunidad Valenciana (-12.6 per cent), but on the other hand double-digit increases were reported in Asturias (16 per cent), La Rioja (13.,7 per cent), the Basque Country (12.9 per cent), Murcia (10.6 per cent) and Navarra (10.8 per cent)
Similarly, the figures for mortgages on residential property also present very different scenarios in different regions. In this case, there were year-on-year increases in only 5 regions, although these included a rise of 69 per cent in La Rioja, while on the downside the sharpest decreases are seen in Aragón (-30.2 per cent), Catalunya (-21.8 per cent), Madrid (-17.1 per cent) and the Canaries (-16.8 per cent). The registrars report that the percentage of purchases financed by mortgage loans has been falling steadily since the start of the pandemic emergency, the only exception having occurred in September.