BarcelonaThe year of the pandemic ended the seven-year continued growth in the housing market. House sales in Catalonia in 2013 turned the page on the financial crisis and started a streak of growth that would become double-digit two years later. But after the first signs of slowdown, the first fall in the number of sales was registered in 2019. Then, in 2020 the figure plummeted by 19.7%
Last year in Catalonia 65,064 house sales were completed. This figure is the lowest since 2016 and year-on-year drop, in percentage terms, is the worst since 2009, when it fell by 26.4%. In other words, such a slump had not been seen since the mortgage crisis.
According to data published by the National Institute of Statistics on Monday, based on information on the transfer of property rights, the trend is the same in all Catalan areas, although it is not as significant in all. On the one hand, the nearly 12,000 fewer operations completed in Barcelona represent a higher drop than the Catalan average (-21.6%); on the other, the falls recorded in Girona (-13%) and Tarragona (-19%) are the first in several years: nine in the case of the first and five in the case of the second. In Lleida, which recorded the lowest number of sales and purchases, operations fell by 12%.
In fact, all Spanish autonomous regions recorded negative rates, but the Principality is placed among those with the steepest falls. There are, however, five territories where the decline is higher: the Balearic Islands, Valencia, the Canary Islands, Madrid and Navarra. House sales have not fallen as sharply in the State as a whole, but yet again the numbers are the worse since the mortgage crisis: the year of the pandemic 415,748 operations of sale and purchase of housing were registered in Spain, 17.7% less than in 2019.
Lockdown effect
The statistical agency attributes this situation to the health crisis caused by covid-19, which, as it explains, "caused the evolution of housing sales and purchases to be different in the various periods of the year". It stresses, for example, that during lockdown Land Registry offices were only contactable via email or telephone. This, he adds, "produced a significant decrease in housing sales" and presented "the lowest rate in the month of May 2020 (-53.7%)". In the following months, they explain, "a progressive recovery" in the number of sales and purchases was observed.
This is corroborated, in fact, the data for the month of December. In Catalonia, in this case, the more than 5,600 purchase and sale operations represent 6.4% more than the same month in 2019. In Spain, the growth rate is 3.7%. There are only six regions with worse records compared to a year ago, and there are four with annual increases of between 24% and 28%.
Three questions for Òscar Gorgues, head of the Urban Property Chamber of Barcelona
- How is the market receiving this fall in operations?
It's not that bad for the year of the pandemic. Despite the fall, we had the best December since 2007. Despite covid-19, it went better than the worst moments of the previous crisis. I thought the covid-19 crisis would hurt us more.
- Why is it worse in Catalonia than in Spain?
Because of the weight of Barcelona. Catalonia in general has done relatively well, but big cities have fared the worst.
- How do you see the housing market in the next months?
Data allows us to be a little bit optimistic. The market has shown itself to be very resilient, especially if we bear in mind all the activity lost during the three months of lockdown and the disappearance of foreign buyers. Novemver and December data are good, and January and February show similar levels of activity.
