Spain's home sales slide slows to –0.5% in February: 59,689 transactions recorded

A market catching its breath

After January's sharp 5% year-on-year contraction, Spain's residential transaction market regained some footing in February. Data published on 23 April by the National Statistics Institute (INE) shows 59,689 home sales — a –0.5% decline compared to February 2025. The correction is still there, but no longer alarming.

The monthly comparison adds more colour: transactions rose 3.8% versus January, led by second-hand homes (+4.5%) with new-build sales also recovering (+1.7%).

New-build vs. second-hand

The gap between the two segments persists. Second-hand properties dominate with 45,881 transactions (76.9% of the total), barely down –0.2% year-on-year. New-build homes, at 13,808 deals, fell –1.6% — a signal of ongoing supply-side pressure from slow project pipelines.

By tenure type:

• Free-market homes: 55,938 transactions (93.7% of all sales) — flat vs. February 2025.


• Subsidised/protected housing: 3,751 transactions — down 7.9%, underscoring the persistent shortfall in affordable supply.

Madrid down 3%, far from the worst

The Madrid region recorded a –3% decline in home sales — below the national average and far from the hardest-hit areas. Regional performance is highly uneven:

• Murcia: –14.8%
• La Rioja: –12.5%
• Galicia: –12%
• Cantabria: –10.9%
• Asturias: –7.6%
• Extremadura: –4.9%
• Comunitat Valenciana: –4.7%
• Balearic Islands: –4.4%

• Navarre: +18.7%
• Canary Islands: +7.9%
• Catalonia: +5.7%
• Aragón: +5%
• Castilla y León: +3.3%

The mortgage paradox

The most striking feature of February's data is not the transactions figure itself — it's the contrast with mortgage lending. While home sales notch their second consecutive monthly decline, new mortgage signings grew 14–16% year-on-year in February, extending a run of 20 consecutive months of gains.

How do you square the two? Several readings are plausible:

Francisco Iñareta of idealista points to a "ceiling on transaction volumes" driven by elevated prices pushing some would-be buyers to the sidelines.

A 2026 that starts well below last year's record

The two-month cumulative figure stands at –2.8% year-on-year, with both new-build (–2.7%) and second-hand (–2.8%) segments tracking similarly. The bar is high: 2025 closed with 714,237 transactions — the highest since 2007 and an 11.5% jump from the previous year.

Some cooling was widely expected. The open question is whether the adjustment stabilises here or whether still-rising prices increasingly weigh on demand and deepen the decline through the spring months.

Track daily-updated market indicators on our Madrid real estate thermometer.

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