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STAFF REPORTER

PALMA
HOUSE sales in the Balearics fell by nearly 50 percent from September in 2007 to the same month this year, with a report published by the National Institute of Statistics (INE) yesterday showing that figures for buying and selling for this period had plummeted by 47.2 percent.

The review showed that whereas 1'858 transactions had taken place in September 2007, only 981 were registered during the same month this year.
Most of the bleak scenario related to the private sector with only 971 buying and selling contracts signed in September this year in comparison with 1'824 during the same month last year, equivalent to a major downturn of 46.7 percent.

The INE research also revealed that in September this year, the housing market only claimed 123 buying or selling transaction for every 100'000 inhabitants, three properties less than the national average.

On top of the report on the “nose dive” in property buying and selling, the INE also revealed that the transference of property had declined by 37.5 percent, in circumstances where owners would, for example, pass on their property to others within inheritance agreements, exchange homes, or donate housing to family members. In September this year, there were only 1'628 registered cases of this nature while during the same month last year, there were 2'607 instances of transferred housing ownership.