House sales in Catalonia fell by 34% in August compared to previous years

Madrid (ACN).- Real estate continues to suffer from the economic crisis and August was a bad month for the sector in Catalonia. The number of housing units sold in August was 3,686, which represents a drop of 33.74% compared with sales figures from August 2010, according to data from the Spanish National Statistics Institute (INE) released this Monday. In Spain as a whole, house sales fell by 38%, going from 43,610 units sold in August 2010 to 27,038 units sold this year. 1,577 new build homes were sold in Catalonia in August, representing a sales drop of 34.83%. Second-hand housing sale befell by 32.9% in Catalonia.

Regarding the four Catalan provinces, real estate sales fell significantly in all the territory except in Tarragona, where the decrease was more moderate. In Tarragona Province (Southern Catalonia), house sales fell by 6.7% in August compared to the same month in 2010. New-build apartment sales in Tarragona decreased by 8.3% while second hand sales dropped by 4.9%. 7.1% of all units sold in the province corresponded to social housing, while the rest was in the free market.

In Barcelona, the most populated province in Catalonia with around two thirds of the population, house sales fell by 40.1% in August compared to August 2010. 5.4% of all sales in Barcelona corresponded to social housing, the rest was in the free market.

In Lleida Province (Western Catalonia), housing sales decreased by 37.3% in relation to last year. 41.7% of all sales corresponded to new-build apartments, although sales of this type dropped by 52.4%. Second-hand home sales experienced a minor decrease (19%). Finally, in Girona Province (North-Eastern Catalonia), house sales dropped by 27%. New-build apartment sales decreased by 29% while second hand homes fell by 25%.