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According to these results, which are prepared by the Ministry of Development using data provided by the College of Notaries, in the last twelve month period – from April 2012 to March 2013 – residential real estate transactions made before a notary totalled 348,715, which represents an increase of 1.3% compared with the previous 12 months.

With regard to the territorial distribution of these transactions, all regions registered decreases, year-on-year, except for Murcia, which registered an increase in sales of 10.3%. Among the regions with the largest declines stood Navarra (-49.5%), Castilla y Leon (-40.9%), the Basque Country (-40.4%) and Asturias (-38.3%).

By province, four recorded year-on-year increases: Alicante (10.5%), Murcia (10.3%), Almeria (7.9%) and Tarragona (6.6%). Among those registering significant decreases were Ávila (-51.2%), Navarra (-49.5%), Soria (-48.5%), Salamanca (-45.6%) and Álava (-45.3%).

With respect to the last 12 months, ten regions recorded growth, especially La Rioja, 12.7%; Aragon, 11.7%; and Murcia and Valencia, both with 10.8%. Eight regions registered declines, in particular Navarra and Cantabria, with -21.5% and -14.5%, respectively.

The cities which registered the highest number of transactions were Madrid (3,350), Barcelona (1,635), Seville (1,219), Valencia (827) and Zaragoza (819).

Among the provincial capitals and municipalities with more than 100,000 inhabitants which registered most growth were: Torrevieja (14.6%), Alicante (14.1%), Alcobendas (13.8%), Marbella (11.8%), Seville (10.9%) and Cuenca (9.7%). Among those registering the biggest declines were: Getafe (-72.8%), Jaén (-71.9%), Huesca (-63.3%), Pamplona (-63.1%), Zamora (-57.4%) and Badajoz (-56.1%).

During the first quarter of 2013, a total of 51,538 of the transactions corresponded to private housing, representing 94.5% of the total, while transactions for protected housing in that period amounted to 2,974, or 5.5% of the total.

17.3% of the total transactions (9,414) were for new housing, while transactions for second-hand housing accounted for 82.7% (45,098).

Foreign Residents Still Buying

The volume of transactions made by foreign residents in Spain experienced growth for the seventh consecutive quarter, rising by 5.0% compared to the first quarter of 2012, with 8,457 purchases, and brought the percentage of all purchases made by foreign residents to 15.5%, the highest in the historical series.

The provinces which registered the highest number of purchases by foreign residents were: Alicante (2,485), Malaga (992), Tenerife (771), Barcelona (652) and Almeria (471).

Meanwhile, transactions by non-resident foreigners amounted to 792, representing an increase of 40% compared to the same period last year.

De Guindos indicated his confidence that this economic recovery will allow the income tax to be reduced in 2015, and supported the statements of the Finance Minister, Cristobal Montoro, in which he claimed he wanted lower taxes, saying: “I agree with the Minister of Finance’s statements, which demonstrates our stability program. The tax reduction is feasible”.

At the same time, as reported by Diario Sur, De Guindos expressed his opposition to the Institute for Fiscal Studies’ (IEF) report, which indicates the need for a reduction in pensions of between 22% and 45% in order to ensure the sustainability of the system. “The Government does not share the conclusions of this report and would question its seriousness because it is very easy to make a headline,” he said, and stressed that the pension system is “guaranteed” due to the “gradual reforms” being carried out by the Government.

Regarding the public debt, De Guindos emphasised that so far this year over 55% of the financing needs for 2013 have been covered. “We accelerated funding requirements because we believe that the interest rates are appropriate. It seems relevant to me that funding is being projected at lower costs,” he said.

Finally, the Economy Minister said he was confident that “positive messages regarding the commitment to the banking union” would emerge from the European Council this week. “A year ago the problem was doubts over the future of the euro – that has dissipated and now we are in doubt over Europe’s capacity for growth. Now we need to move forward together in order to get Europe out of the recession,” he concluded.

After two months of declines, the construction sector in Spain picked up again in March, while in the whole of the EU it suffered a fall of 7.2%. After Spain, the country with the greatest growth in construction, year-on-year was Hungary, which experienced an increase of 9.9%.

In contrast, Slovenia suffered the biggest decline, falling by 31.8%, followed by the Czech Republic (-19%), Poland (-16.9%) and Portugal (-16.7%).

Compared with the figures for the previous month, El Mundo reported that construction in Spain grew by 2.4%, representing the second largest increase in the EU, behind only Romania (2.8%).

Month-on-month, construction fell by 1.1% in the EU, driven by declines of 10.7% in Portugal, 7.6% in the Czech Republic and 5% in Slovakia.

Specifically, of the 50 provinces analysed, Barcelona (with 60,077 units), Castellón (54,274), Alicante (49,333) and Madrid (45,537) are the provinces that have most ‘stock’ available, while Badajoz (with 843 units), Caceres (1,317) and Soria (1,966) recorded the lowest levels of surplus ‘stock’.

With respect to the relationship between the population and the level of the new housing surplus, for the third year, Castellón, Toledo and Almeria are the provinces with the highest levels per 1,000 inhabitants, while Badajoz, Cáceres and Vizcaya recorded the lowest ratios.

Despite the current economic climate, Deloitte points out that 35 provinces are reducing their ‘stock’ of unsold new homes – in particular, Badajoz, Navarra and Guadalajara, with adjustments of 58%, 42% and 23%, respectively, from the previous year.

Taking into account their economic situation and real estate indicators, the report indicates that Alava, Cantabria, Guipúzcoa, La Coruña, Madrid, Navarra, Valladolid and Vizcaya are the provinces better prepared to face a recovery in real estate activity, while 30 provinces, among which are Barcelona, Valencia, Seville and the Balearic Islands, would only be able to normalise their activity at a later time and at a slower pace. Finally, a group of 12 provinces need more time to absorb the ‘stock’ and energise their local real estate market.

Prices Slashed by 22% from Highs

With all this, and motivated by a cumulative drop of 22% in average house prices since the start of the crisis, the percentage of household income devoted to the payment of a home mortgage has reduced over recent years to stand at 34.3%, which is “very close to reasonable levels of balance,” said Deloitte.

El Mundo reported that the high price of housing in Barcelona and Guipuzcoa makes their respective rates of economic effort, for the third consecutive year, the highest in Spain. By contrast, buying a home in provinces such as Murcia, La Rioja, Pontevedra or Lleida is more accessible, with rates of economic effort registering below the 30% threshold.

Here’s this week’s top Spanish Holiday Rental properties – as voted by you.

Properties for rent under €1,000 per week

Thus, the figure for homes completed at the beginning of 2013 continues the negative trend of recent years. In the whole of 2012, with 120,206 homes completed, the drop was 28.4%, adding to five consecutive years of declines. From the peak recorded in 2007, when 641,419 homes were completed, the market has fallen by 81%.

Of the total homes finished in the first two months of 2013, El Mundo reported that 99.6% of them (10,872) corresponded to private developers, and the remaining 0.4% (47) to the Government.

Compared to 2012, private developers’ home constructions fell by 43.3%, and those of the Government, by 86.5%. In the private sector, 6,376 were for corporations, with a decrease of 46.2%; 3,592 were for individuals and communities of owners (-31.8%), and 687 for cooperatives (-49.2%). Additionally, there were 217 completion certificates for other private developer projects.

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This week, thousands of new properties were advertised on Kyero.com.

Here’s this week’s top Spanish Long term rental properties – as voted by you.

Properties to rent under €1,000 per month

We measure how fresh and complete the advert is, and how visitors interact with it.

This week, thousands of new properties were advertised on Kyero.com.

Here’s this week’s top Spanish properties – as voted by you.

Properties priced under €250,000

By area, housing within the metropolitan areas were those which experienced the biggest price reduction, with a drop of 13.7%, followed by those on the Mediterranean coast, with a reduction of 12.8% over the same month last year.

Furthermore, properties in the provincial capitals and large cities fell in price by 11.3% in April, compared to the same month of 2012, while those located in other municipalities fell by 11.7%.

El Economista reported that property prices only rose in the Canary and Balearic Islands, by 3.3%, which Tinsa interpreted as being “cyclical stabilisation”.

Since prices reached their highest values, the cumulative decline on the Mediterranean coast is 45%, followed by the capitals and major cities, with 40.4%; metropolitan areas, with 40.2%; the rest of the municipalities, with 33.1%, and the Balearic and Canary Islands, with 24.5%.