Housing sales rose by 14.7% in 2022 compared with the prior year, marking the highest yearly total since 2007 with more than 775,000 transactions, according to the National Institute of Statistics (INE) on the latest report.
That annual gain continued a two-year upward trend in home sales after a standout 34.8% increase in 2021. Previously, sales had fallen 16.9% in 2020 during the early pandemic period, a steeper drop than in 2019 (-2.4%). From 2014 through 2018, house sales posted consistent year-over-year gains.
The 2022 progress in home sales was driven by gains in both the sale of second-hand apartments and new home purchases.
In 2007, used home sales climbed 17.7%, reaching the highest point in the series with 532,459 transactions. Sales of new flats rose 2.6%, totaling 117,035 units, the strongest figure since 2014.
About 92.2% of houses sold in the year were free of charge, while 7.8% were purchased under protection programs. Overall, single-family home sales increased 15.6% to 599,040 transactions in 2022, while subsidized home sales rose 4.8% to 50,454, their highest annual level since 2010.
In 2022, the number of sales between private individuals grew by 14.9% to 451,369 units, and seven out of ten transactions that year occurred between private parties.
selling on the islands
The highest rates of home sales per 100,000 inhabitants in 2022 were in the Community of Valencia (2,442), La Rioja (2,014) and Andalusia (2,210).
Andalusia led regional sales with 135,976 transactions, followed by Catalonia (102,108), the Valencian Community (99,448) and Madrid (83,103). Regions with the lowest activity were La Rioja (5,033), Navarra (6,516) and Cantabria (8,615).
Relative growth in 2022 occurred across most communities, except Navarra, which dipped 0.5%. The largest increases were in the Canary Islands (+31.6%), the Balearic Islands (+25.6%), the Valencian Community (+23.9%), and Asturias (+20.6%), with more modest gains in Madrid (+2.7%) and Galicia (+8.6%).
Sales fell 10% in December
Even as 2022 stood out as the strongest year since 2007 for house sales, activity in December declined by 10.2% compared with December 2021, totaling 43,370 units, the lowest level since April 2021. The stretch of 21 consecutive months of year-over-year growth was coming to an end.
The last December saw 7,753 new homes sold amid the pandemic, the weakest figure in two years, after an annual drop of 18.8%, the largest since July 2020.
Used home sales dropped 8.1% year over year, the largest decline since January 2021. In total, 35,617 used home transactions were recorded, the lowest since April 2021.
Likewise, on a monthly basis (December 2022 versus November 2022), home sales fell 21.3% for the month, the sharpest drop in at least five years.
Total number of farms transferred rose 3.3% in 2022
When rural and urban properties are combined, total transfers in 2022 reached 2,237,885, up 3.3% from 2021.
With the rebound in 2022, two consecutive years of growth followed a 26.6% rise in 2021.
Last year, sales of farms by private owners rose 8.6% versus 2021, while donations fell 9.8%, barter transactions declined 14.2%, and inheritances rose 2%.
According to INE data, rustic farm sales declined 2.2% in 2022 to a total of 156,925 operations. In contrast, urban property sales (including houses) increased by 10.3% to 1,090,592 transactions.