Housing prices increase by 9% but at a slower pace

While at a slower pace, housing prices kept increasing during the first quarter of 2019. According to the National Institute of Statistics (INE), housing prices index (IPHab) increased by 9.2%, dropping by 3.6% relative to the end of the previous year. Back then, the number of sold houses increased by 7.6% to a total of 6.1Bn€.

The increase of 9.2% took place between the first quarter of 2019 and the same period of last year, despite registering a growth deceleration. Between the first quarter of 2017 and the first quarter of 2018, prices increased by more than 12%. Comparing with 2018’s last quarter (prices increased by 9.3%), a deceleration of 0.1% was registered.

This dynamic impacted more on existing housing (10%) than in new housing (6%). In terms of growth rates, however, the existing housing prices accelerated by 0.5% relative to the last trimester of 2018, while new housing prices decelerated.

Sales decelerated by the 3rd trimester in a row

In the first three months of the year, 43.826 houses were transacted, representing an increase of 7.6% relative to the same period of last year. “This was the 3rd trimester in a row that the number of house sales decelerated, registering the lowest nominal variation rate of the last four years”, INE referred.

Housing transactions totalled 37.436 units, 7.5% more than in the previous same period of time. New housing represented 14.6% of the whole transactions, totalling 6.390 units, the equivalent to an increase of 8.4% relative to the first quarter of the year.

In terms of volume, housing transactions totalled 6.1Bn€, the equivalent to an increase of 12.9% relative to 2018’s last trimester. From that, 5Bn€ referred to existing housing and 1.1Bn€ to new housing.