Spain Property Sales Dropped 35% Q4 2008 - Housing Ministry

House sales in Spain dropped 35% in the 4th quarter of 2009, according to the Spanish housing ministry figures released Thursday.

A big surprise for me was the fact that resale properties were worst affected; with sales dropping 41 year on year in Q4 2008, compared to a 30% drop in the sales of new properties in Spain.

The 35% average drop was a year on year figure compared to sales in 2007, the drop against sales at the height of the boom was closer to 50%, said the housing ministry.

Analysts think that the number of new homes languishing unsold throughout Spain is well over 1million. This will leave considerable oversupply problems in Spain for some time to come.

That said it is likely Spain's property market will be depressed for longer than most markets in Europe. View Write About Property's property in Spain