The number of Spanish home sales inscribed in the Land Registry was up by 18% in February compared to the same month last year, the biggest February increase since the boom years more than a decade ago.

There were 37,412 Spanish home sales inscribed in the Land Register in February, and 41,480 if you include homes subsidised by the Government, known as VPO, all according to the latest figures from the National Institute of Statistics (INE).

Home sales have grown by double digits in most months since March 2014, when the Spanish housing market recovery started. However, sales are still down by 44% compared to the peak year of 2007.

New home sales have increased annually by double digits almost every month for the past year, driven by the recovery in demand for new homes in Spain.

Overall, national sales have increased strongly almost everywhere except Extremadura (where foreign demand is not a big part of the picture) and Catalonia, where the constitutional crisis and political uncertainty are discouraging foreign buyers.