Spain's unsold housing supply shrinks for third consecutive year

Sesena, near Madrid, is famous for its empty developments (Photo: besos y flores)

Spain built a large number of homes during the property boom, but when the market crashed, a plunge in demand from buyers left many developments standing vacant. Ghost projects and villages continued to hold back the market's recovery in the following years, as agents struggled to sell off enough of the excess to get the supply/demand cycle back on track.

Now, though, the Ministry of Development confirms that the country's supply of unsold housing decreased by the largest amount yet in 2012. Stock fell 6.9 per cent year-on-year down to 583,453 properties. The decline followed a drop of 1.1 per cent in 2010 and a decrease of 2.5 per cent in 2011.
 
Nonetheless, there is a long way to go. At 2009, the peak supply of empty homes stood at 649,780, notes Kyero. On the one hand, 66,237 homes have been sold since then. On the other hand, only 66,327 homes have been sold since then.

Surplus supply fell in all regions across Spain in 2012 and grew in two areas: Ceuta and Melilla. The biggest drops were recorded in Extremadura (65.8 per cent) and Cantabria (65.6 per cent).

The report also compared unsold old homes to unsold new homes, finding that 2.3 per cent of existing properties in Spain were awaiting a buyer in 2012.