MADRID, Feb. 13 (Xinhua) -- Spanish housing sales rose by 14.6 percent in 2017 when compared with 2016, Spain's Statistical Office (INE) reported on Tuesday.
A total of 464,423 operations were registered in 2017, which is the largest figure since 2008 when the financial crisis started in Spain.
Spain's housing sales have been rising for four consecutive years, increasing by 2.0 percent in 2014, by 11.5 percent in 2015 and by 14 percent in 2016.
However, they plummeted by 25.1 percent and by 28.8 percent in 2009 and 2008, respectively, following the burst of the housing bubble.
The INE said that in 2017, sales of second-hand houses increased by 15.4 percent to 381,163 operations, and sales of new houses rose by 10.8 percent to 83,260.
According to the INE, purchases of non-subsidized houses represented 90.2 percent, their sales reached 418,915, up 15.1 percent year-on-year.
Sales of subsidized houses accounted for 9.8 percent of the total, increasing by 9.5 percent year-on-year and reaching 45,508 operations.
