The real estate sector closes 2022 at the highest level since the 2007 property boom

It's a good time to sell your apartment or villa as the Canary Islands closed 2022 with a total of 31,440 non-commercial property sales, the highest figure since the property boom 15 years ago before the great recession. In 2007 there were 39,304 homes sold and purchased, which dropped sharply to a low of 14,664 in 2011, and from which the market has taken over 10 years to recover from, according to data from the General Council of Notaries published yesterday.

Last year the growth in sales was 26.9%, the most intense in the interannual rate since 2007, excluding the increase of almost 44% in 2021 which was a result of the accumulation and delay in transactions due to Covid lockdown and the inability to travel in 2020, when sales fell by 32%.

The average price per square metre last year was also at figures similar to the level prior to the Great Recession. According to the data from the General Council of Notaries, it stood at 1,771 euros in 2022, which represents an increase of 10.4%.

This figure is above the 1,745 euros of 2007 and is slightly lower than the 1,794 euros of 2008, when the all-time high was reached. The lowest price was touched in 2014 of 1,238 euros, meaning that in recent years housing prices have risen by 50%.

The increase in both the number of transactions and prices has placed the Canary Islands at the forefront of growth in the Spanish real estate sector, and has resulted in a substantial rise in the collection of the Transfer Tax and Documented Legal Acts.

According to data from the Tax Agency, almost 400 million euros were paid into the islands for this concept from January to November last year, which is 40% more than in 2021. In monetary terms, the increase is just over 111 million euros.

MORTGAGES:
With regard to mortgages requested for the acquisition of homes, they grew less than the number of properties sold. Specifically, there were only 15,302 mortgages signed in the archipelago last year, meaning that only 40% of the homes that were purchased in the islands were with mortgages; the remainder were paid for without external funding. The data highlights the weight of foreigners in the real estate market on the islands and their greater economic capacity to buy a property.

However, the value of the mortgages that were signed was higher than a year earlier, in line with the rise in prices, and reached its highest value since the Great Recession, although they are still lower than 2007 levels.

The average mortgage in the Canary Islands was 154,004 euros when in 2008 it was 173,617 euros and a year before (2007) it exceeded 210,000 euros.