The sale of homes in the Balearics during the second quarter rose by a whopping 30.1% compared with sales from April to June 2014. The average in Spain, meanwhile, was 13.9%.
The increase in the Balearics, while great, was not as great as in the region of La Rioja and the two African cities of Ceuta and Melilla combined. Their rates were, respectively, 44.2% and 33.9%. Nevertheless, the performance in the Balearic housing market was significant by comparison with the national average and with certain regions of Spain where sales fell. In Navarre, for example, they were down by almost 15%.
The second quarter was, for the country as a whole, the second best since 2010, while it was the sixth quarter in a row during which the housing market has grown, the total number of transactions nationwide having gone up to over 104,000. This latest quarterly increase follows that of January to March when there was 4.4% national growth. Over the twelve months to the end of June, sales totalled over 382,000, a rise of more than 13%.
Impressive though the national data are, it should be noted that in the second quarter of 2012 there were over 134,000 transactions, while in 2010 - very much in the midst of economic crisis - they had reached more than 153,000.
As for type of housing, used properties represented 87.5% of all national sales, while purchases involving foreign residents grew by 17%. Sales to non-resident foreigners increased by 5%, and areas of the country where foreign purchasing was at its most active were Alicante and Malaga with, respectively, 4,141 and 2,518.