The number of sales in the Spanish housing market shrank by 15% compared to a year earlier, according to sales inscribed in the property register in August, and published by the National Institute of Statistics (INE).

These figures report home sales that took place around two months earlier as it takes that long for sales to be inscribed in the property register and published by the INE.

Excluding social housing there were just 21,317 home sales inscribed in the property register in August, down 15% for the year and down 9% compared to a month earlier.

The rising transaction costs are reported to be a big reason why the Spanish property market is still shrinking seven years after the crisis started. With the exception of the Canary Islands, it now costs 10-15% of the purchase price to buy a home in Spain, which is a major obstacle for many buyers.

Catalonia and Valencia both raised the tax on buying homes to 10% in August, which is expected to have a negative impact on sales in those regions for the foreseeable future.

The biggest fall in sales was for new build property, down 25% in August, while re-sold property sales were down just 6%.