Fewer homes were sold in the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands and the Valencian Community in the first quarter of this year, compared to 2020, according to data from online Assessor, Tugesto, the INE and Ibestat.
2,273 homes were sold in the first three months of 2021 in the Balearics, compared to 2,720 during the same period last year, which is a decrease of 16.44%.
737 homes were sold in January 2021, compared to 995 in 2020.
799 homes were sold in February 2021, compared to 969 in 2020.
727 homes were sold in March 2021, compared to 756 in 2020.
Association of Real Estate Developers Vice President, Proinba, Tolo Mayol, says there are three reasons for the slump in sales; the rise in house prices; limited movement of foreigners due to the Covid restrictions and difficulty in securing credit.
“Local buyers have been excluded from the housing market, because of the high property prices, which are already at pre-pandemic levels and still rising,” he said.
Real Estate Agent, Luis A. Cabezas agrees that property prices in the Balearic Islands are one of the reasons sales have slowed down.
"There were opportunities during the crisis, but now prices have gone up by another by 5%-15%.
Mayol points out that there are very few homes below the 280,000 euro price point in the Balearic Islands and that most residents can’t afford to pay more than 250,000 euros. He claims that reclassifying land for development purposes is the solution, because the housing problem is motivated by the high price of land.
“The current prices make it very difficult to buy homes below 400,000 euros," says Mayol who also acknowledged that it’s very difficult to grant loans when so many people are in ERTE.