Housing sales grow 39% in August in relation to last year

Madrid (ACN).- According to the Spanish Statistical Institute, housing sales in Catalonia during the month of August totalled to 5,495 operations, showing a 38.69% increase compared to August of 2009. It is the strongest increase since the economic crisis' start. The increase represents 8 months of consecutive growth. However, compared to the previous month (July 2010), the sales dropped by 5.68% (5,826 operations made). For the whole of Spain, 43,817 housing sales were undergone, which represents a 29.6% increase in relation to 2009 and a 13.8% increase in relation to July 2010. In Catalonia, housing sales were slightly dominated by the second hand market, representing 3,072 operations. New flats and houses counted for 2,423 new contracts. They represent 45.52% and a 30.9% increase in relation to August 2009.

Public policies favouring protected housing pushed for during the last year have been translated into a share increase of this type of housing sales. They reached 10.4% for the whole of Spain. Thus free market housing represented 89.6%. In relation to the previous year, socially protected housing sales increased by 54.7% and free market sales by 27.2%.

In Catalonia, free housing represented 95.32% of the sales in August. In relation to the same month of the previous year, free market housing sales increased by 39%, while socially protected housing increased by 33%.