The brick boom has made 2024 crowned as the second best for the sector from the outbreak of the real estate bubble in 2008, with a total of 641,919 homes sold. It is 10% more than the previous year, according to the data published this Thursday by the National Statistics Institute (INE), although the figure remains, when the market exceeded 650.00 transactions driven by the accumulated demand in the COVID crisis . But that general photo hides a two -speed exercise, marked by the change of course in monetary policy and mortgage chest. In the first part, from January to June, some 300,000 houses were bought in Spain; while between July and September were 342,696. The acceleration is of abruptness that had not been seen even during the exit of the pandemic. And converts that semester into the second with the highest activity since the start of 2007 (from January to June of that year almost 433,000 operations were recorded). If only the second parts of each year are looked at, 2024 has surpassed by the hair even to 2007, a mythical reference because it is considered that it is the year when the bubble reached its peak and began to deflate, until it ended up exploding.
The data of 2024 clearly break with, which was much closer to the levels prior to the pandemic than of the posterior euphoria. Then, the hardening of financing conditions, in a context of high interest rates and lower purchasing power of households for inflation, caused a market contraction. Instead, last year it was marked by the opposite dynamics: interest rates were moderated by the monetary turn of the European Central Bank. The entities improved financing conditions and the national economy continued to grow, as well as wages. To this is added the increase in the population, and consequently of the demand, clearly starring the arrival of foreigners attracted by the good economic moment of Spain, which creates the perfect cocktail for a real sales feast.
The rhythm of sale, within the usual seasonality of the real estate market, was less than more throughout the year. October was the month in which more houses were sold, touching the 70,000 operations. And December culminated with about 50,000 sale, which are 37% more than twelve months before. The market has not ceased to accelerate despite the fact that prices were maintained in the clouds, with a record in the according to the figures of the property registrars. This makes 2024 the most expensive in history, overcoming the average prices of 2006 and 2007, the highest years of the bubble of the early century, without taking into account the effect of accumulated inflation since then.
As usual, the main fuel were second -hand houses, with 506,867 operations, 6.9% more than in 2023. However, brand new houses begin to collect relevance in the market. Last year sales of this type of property experienced a spectacular increase of 23.4%, adding 135,052 sale, the highest figure since 2013. “It is a very significant volume compared to the percentage shown in recent years. , because the interest in buying premiere housing is strong, ”explains María Matos, director of Studies of Fotocasa.
Only an autonomous community, the Balearic Islands, left the tone when seeing a decrease in the sale of 3.8% compared to 2023. In the rest there were rebounds, although very heterogeneously. , such as the Canary Islands and Andalusia, registered growth well below the national average. While other territories in which there is lower demographic pressure and accessibility problems, sales came to rebound more than 20%. This is the case of Galicia and La Rioja, closely followed by Castilla-La Mancha and Asturias. All are markets that start from a modest size, therefore more likely to yield high percentages in expansive times.
The interest in acquiring a house in these territories explains that the elders concentrate there. In the whole of Spain, loans lived a flowering last year, uploading 11%. “The improvement in access to financing has especially favored residents of less demanded areas, where housing prices are more accessible and families can acquire properties more easily,” explains Sergio Nasarre, a professor of civil law and founder of the UNESCO Housing Chair.
The revived interest in these areas, however, has not avoided that, in absolute terms, Andalusia has been the community that has registered the most operations in 2024, with 126,039 sale. He was followed by the Valencian Community (104,773) and Catalonia (99,592). On the contrary, La Rioja, despite registering a 20% year -on -year increase in housing transactions, did not reach 5,000 operations, according to INE data. “Transactions are concentrated in the same territories because people seek to live in areas with more job opportunities and services, which are in large cities,” insists Nasarre.
The individuals, protagonists
From the point of view of the type of buyers and vendors, individuals touched most of the market, as usual. The natural persons acquired nine out of 10 houses that were sold. But legal persons, that is,. This typology, more linked to operations with investment profile has been gaining land year after year with relatively small percentage growths – like that of 2024, which barely represents a tenth more compared to 2023. However, this unnoticed progress becomes relevant when it is observed that they have gone from 5.5% on homes sold in 2007 to 10.9% last year.
The monetary policy of the ECB and the resilience of the national economy give wings to analysts to think that the sale will continue in a dynamic cycle in 2025. “In the coming months we can find ourselves around 30% more buyers trying to operate”, Matos details, who considers that incentive policies such as ICO guarantees will have an effect on this year’s demand. For its part, from the real estate portal flaos.com they predict a new record year that, “added to the shortage of supply, will continue to promote prices up, making access to housing in property to young people and families with less resources with less resources with less resources ”
