Home sales fall 5.1% in July to 61,417 transactions, according to the INE, with sharp differences between regions

28/09/2026 – ⏱ 4 min

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice or a recommendation of any kind.

The National Statistics Institute (INE) published on 25 September the provisional data from the Property Rights Transfer Statistics for July 2026. The indicator records 61,417 home sales in the month, 5.1% fewer than in July 2025. The figure is up 3.6% on June, although the cumulative total for the first seven months of 2026 is down 3.0% on the same period of the previous year. The publication comes just days after Gloval's Residential Market Barometer put price growth in provincial capitals at 12.1% year on year in the second quarter: the combination of rising prices and fewer signed transactions is the focus of this month's reading.

The July snapshot: 61,417 transactions

In absolute terms, July 2026 closed with 61,417 registered home sales, compared with a higher volume in July 2025. The 5.1% year-on-year fall coexists with a 3.6% month-on-month improvement on June, a usual pattern in the second half of summer, when registry activity tends to pick up slightly after the holiday lull. Over January to July as a whole, the cumulative total is 3.0% below the same period of 2025, which leaves 2026 below the previous year's transaction volume in most of the months elapsed.

New and second-hand homes: the adjustment is concentrated in the second-hand market

The breakdown by type of home shows uneven behaviour. The 48,128 transactions on second-hand homes, 78.4% of the total, fell 6.1% year on year, while the 13,289 on new homes, the remaining 21.6%, declined 1.4%, a markedly smaller fall. By regime, the 57,607 sales of free-market housing dropped 4.4%, compared with a 14.4% fall in the 3,810 transactions on subsidised housing, the segment with the sharpest contraction in July.

By region: the north and the interior hold up, the coast cools

The regional map shows marked contrasts. Three regions recorded increases: Navarra heads the list with 26.4%, followed by Galicia (10.8%) and Castilla y León (9.7%). At the other end, Asturias fell 15.2%, the Balearic Islands 14.3% and the Basque Country 12.4%, the largest declines of the month. Aragón (-11.4%), the Community of Madrid (-11.3%), Cantabria (-10.2%), the Valencian Community (-8.6%), Catalonia (-7.0%) and Andalusia (-5.5%) also fell. The pattern does not clearly distinguish between coastal and inland markets, nor between regions with larger or smaller populations: Madrid, the country's largest market, falls by more than the national average, while Castilla y León, with a housing stock of a different profile, grows.

Why demand is moderating

The decline in transactions coexists with prices that, according to the indicators available for 2026, remain at or near their peaks in most markets. On top of this price increase comes the cost of financing: the Euribor has hovered around 3% for much of the summer, following the European Central Bank's rate rises, which makes mortgage payments more expensive and tightens access to credit for buyers who need financing. The combination of high prices and tougher financing conditions, in particular the savings needed for the down payment, is repeatedly pointed to by the sector as one of the main brakes on transactional activity in the second half of 2026.

Why this matters to the real-estate investor

A lower number of sales does not necessarily mean a weaker market: it may reflect that part of the solvent demand cannot find product at the current price and financing conditions, while prices continue to hold up. For the investor, reading both indicators together, rising prices and falling transactions, points to a market with less liquidity but without signs of a general price correction. That combination is also relevant for real-estate crowdfunding: a developer that already has financing for a project under construction does not depend directly on the pace of second-hand home sales, but does depend on the capacity of final demand to access ownership, whether for own use or for investment, once the project is completed. When that demand slows, the marketing periods for the finished development may lengthen, something worth bearing in mind when assessing a project's expected timetable.

Reading for the investor

The July data are provisional and the INE itself revises them in later releases, normally upwards, as late-registered deeds are incorporated. The statistic measures registrations in the Land Registry, not notarial signings, so there is a time lag between the transaction and its statistical reflection. Variations by autonomous community, especially the most pronounced ones such as Navarra's, can be amplified by a small comparison base in lower-volume markets. No monthly figure on its own anticipates the future course of sales or prices. Past results do not guarantee future results, and all real-estate investment carries risks of illiquidity, default and total or partial loss of the capital invested. At European level, the activity of crowdfunding platforms is governed by Regulation (EU) 2020/1503 and, in Spain, by the implementing rules and supervision of the CNMV.

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