Spanish property sales fall in May

A new report has shown that economy worries are hampering property investment in Spain as the number of house sales drops.

According to the National Statistics Institute (INE) in Madrid, house sale transactions fell by 18.3 per cent in May year-on-year - the third consecutive month it has done so and compounding April's decline of 29.7 per cent.

The statisticians said that there is currently an excess of stock caused by a decade-long construction boom which is not being sold as people try to cut back their spending, Bloomberg reports.

Measures have been taken by the government to sort out the problem of the 700,000 unsold homes in Spain, including dropping a tax rebate scheme for mortgage payments of €1,352 (£1,184) a year to propel purchases.

The INE recently reported that the typical value of mortgages in Spain fell by 12.1 per cent in April to €113,425, compared to figures from the same month in 2010.

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