Spain property market statistics: the sources you should check

The Spanish property market has dozens of statistical sources, but they don't all measure the same thing or with the same reliability. Using the wrong source can lead you to completely wrong conclusions. Here is the definitive guide to what each source measures and what it's for.

Official sources

INE (Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Spain's national statistics office): Publishes monthly statistics on transfers of property rights and on mortgages. These are real transaction data (not listings), reliable and granular down to provincial level. The delay is 2-3 months. Ideal for seeing the volume of the market and confirming trends.

Colegio de Registradores (Spain's association of land registrars): Very comprehensive quarterly property statistics: price, average floor area, financing. They include data on foreign buyers. Very useful for regional analysis and analysis by property type.

The Bank of Spain: Data on mortgage lending (volume, terms) and on house prices based on valuations. Its price index is more conservative than the portals' because it uses valuations, not asking prices.

Catastro (Spain's property cadastre): Data on the cadastral value and physical characteristics of every property. It doesn't reflect market prices, but it does give you a picture of the housing stock and its characteristics.

Private sources with wide coverage

Idealista: An index of asking prices by area, with a historical series available on its website. The most closely followed index in the market for resale prices.

TINSA: A valuation company with a price index based on real valuations. More conservative than Idealista, but closer to the actual transaction price.

Fotocasa Research: The research arm of the Fotocasa portal, which publishes reports on rental and sale prices with a historical series. Useful for comparing with Idealista and getting confirmation.

How to use them together

For a sound investment decision: use the INE/Registradores to confirm the volume and trend of transactions in an area, Idealista/Fotocasa for the current asking price, and TINSA/the Bank of Spain for the estimated transaction price (a 5-10% discount on the asking price).

Integrated data for each asset: RadarPro brings together the main market data sources in the analysis of each asset. Also read how to use data to invest efficiently.