The collapse of new construction operations has caused Home sales registered an interannual decrease of 2.2% in Marchwith a total of 61,295 operations and accumulating three consecutive months of declines, according to data provided by the National Institute of Statistics (INE). Specifically, in the third month of the year, 21.3% of the homes transferred by purchase and sale in March were new and 78.7% used. The number of transactions on new homes decreased by 10.2%with 13,057 transactions and a three-month downward trend, while the used market increased 0.2%, with 48,238 transactions. In this case, it is the highest figure in a month of March since 2007. In addition, 93.8% of the homes transferred by sale in March were free and 6.2% were protected. In annual terms, the number of free homes transferred decreased by 1.6% in March in annual rate, with 57,500 transactions, and that of protected ones by 10.4%, with 3,795 transactions. By CCAA, those that presented the further increases They were Castilla-La Mancha (11.5%), Comunidad Foral de Navarra (8.2%) and La Rioja (5.2%). On the contrary, the further declines They occurred in Cantabria (-15.4%), the Basque Country (-11.6%) and the Canary Islands (-8.9%). For its part, in the accumulated amount of the first quarter of the year, home sales fell 2.6% compared to the same period in 2025. The new one fell 5.3% and the used one fell 1.8%. CHANGE OF CYCLE IN THE REAL ESTATE MARKET Real estate portals agree that we are facing a change of cycle in the real estate market. «Despite the moderation that is beginning to be seen in some indicators such as the annual one, the housing market maintains notable dynamism, with a very high volume of sales that extends the positive inertia started in 2025. In fact, this high activity continues to be sustained by a stagnant demand and by mortgage conditions that are still very favorable,» says the Director of Studies at Fotocasa, María Matos. In her opinion, «the market faces a new phase marked by the adjustment between high buying pressure and clearly insufficient supply. Despite this, the factor driving these high volumes is the improvement in financing conditions. In fact, credit continues to be the main driver of this level of operations.» «In parallel, we are on the verge of a change of cycle driven by the mortgage market that is beginning to show certain adjustments. After a year of intense banking competition, entities are evolving towards a more prudent position, with more balanced products adapted to an environment of greater monetary stability. This change could translate into a slight moderation in the pace of mortgage granting in the coming months,» he adds. forecasts for the first semester 2026, estimates that the behavior of the market in the coming months will be conditioned, to a large extent, by the evolution of interest rates and the Euribor. «The international environment introduces a new source of uncertainty. Geopolitical tensions could lead to an inflationary rebound with a direct impact on the real estate market. An increase in construction costs would make it difficult to generate new supply and, in parallel, a possible tightening of monetary policy by the European Central Bank (ECB) could make financing more expensive again, especially affecting the demand that is most dependent on credit,» he warns. He considers that «all of this sets up a scenario in which the market points to a progressive slowdownmarked by a demand that loses purchasing capacity and a supply that continues to be insufficient. The result will be an increasingly tense market with greater access difficultiesin which the accessibility gap will continue to widen.» For Idealista spokesperson, Francisco Iñareta, «the data show, for the third consecutive month, an interannual reduction in the volume of purchase operations, which could be deduced as a cycle change or, at least, a national stabilization of purchasing appetite. The high prices reached by housing, especially in the most dynamic markets, and the increase in financing prices seem to be responsible for the withdrawal of demand and They anticipate price stabilization in the medium term«.
