MADRID, 4 May. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The number of home sales decreased by 11.7% in the interannual rate last March, reaching 63,661 operations, while the average price per square meter stood at 1,580 euros, 2.6% less than in March 2022, according to data from the General Council of Notaries published this Thursday.

By type of home, sales of flats decreased by 11.2% year-on-year, to 49,263 units, while sales of single-family homes decreased by 13.4% year-on-year, to 14,397 units.

The prices of the apartments fell by 2.6% last March compared to the same month of 2022, reaching 1,746 euros per square meter, while the price of single-family homes stood at an average of 1,276 euros per square meter, with a decrease of 2.7%.

By autonomous community, the sale of homes fell in 16 of them in the interannual rate and only rose in Galicia (3.8%). Among the decreases, the most pronounced were registered by La Rioja (-38.7%), Navarra (-34.9%), Madrid (-22.9%), the Basque Country (-22.7%), the Canary Islands (17 .3%), Asturias (-16.2%), the Balearic Islands (-16.1%), Castilla-La Mancha (-13.9%) and Catalonia (-12.5%).

For its part, the price per square meter fell by 2.6% year-on-year at the national level last March. In ten communities prices increased and in seven they fell, mainly in Cantabria (-7.7%), the Basque Country (-6.2%) and the Balearic Islands (-6.1%).

The largest price increases, on the other hand, were registered in the Canary Islands (9.5%), La Rioja (6.7%), the Valencian Community (6.3%) and Castilla y León (5.9%).

For their part, mortgage loans for house purchase fell by 26.4% year-on-year last March, to 27,192 operations. The average amount of these loans decreased by 4.4% year-on-year, standing at 146,870 euros.

The percentage of home purchases financed through a mortgage loan stood at 42.7% last March. In addition, in this type of purchase with financing, the amount of the loan represented an average of 70.9% of the price.

At the regional level, mortgage loans for home purchase have gone four months without growth, and exceeded negative rates of 20% in La Rioja (-24.7%), Galicia (-23.6%), Comunidad Valenciana (- 21.8%), Extremadura (-21%) and Andalusia (-20.2%).