A record 107,000 inherited homes in 2023 thanks to Covid - rapid growth.

In the first half of the year, 107,073 inheritances were registered across Spain, the highest number in history since 2007.

The figures provided by the National Institute of Statistics (INE) in its latest statistics on property rights follow the increase seen in the previous two years, coinciding with COVID-19 deaths. The 3.7% increase year-on-year "corresponds to the time needed to process inheritances and could be a delayed effect of previous inheritances that require review and which usually take several years," explains José García Montalvo, an economist at Pompeu Fabra University.

The previous record was set in 2021, a year after the start of the pandemic.

At that time, 104,386 inherited residences were recorded, well above the historical average, as the six-digit number had never been reached before. A year later, the number was about the same as analysts expected because of the capture effect. Now, after six months, the effect of the latest COVID-19 waves may also be reflected. The last wave in Spain occurred in August 2022, when an average of 62 people died each day. Added to this is the small percentage of inheritances left unresolved for various reasons that prevent the family from taking over the property in advance.

Besides housing, a record has also been set for the number of urban plots inherited - a total of 170,410.

The same goes for agricultural plots, with the number of transactions reaching 96,306. In both cases, the trend is the same: the numbers since 2020 are well above the historical average, according to INE.

Andalusia, Catalonia, the Valencian Community and Madrid are the autonomies with the highest number of registered operations corresponding to the number of deaths during the pandemic. Together, they accumulate nearly 60% of all inheritances this semester. In this regard, real estate agents remind us that inheritances are directly proportional to demographics, i.e.

The pandemic has certainly led to a steady rise over the past three years in inherited homes under legal wills - 131,361 people died of COVID during that period, according to INE data. However, this figure could have been much higher. The percentage of inheritances rejected by families because debts exceed benefits was nearly 55,000 last year. Although the percentage attributable to real estate is unknown, notaries and agencies claim to include this figure. This trend is amplified when looking at the trend by region, as Andalusia, Catalonia and Madrid were the three regions with the highest number of rejections.

Analysts note that in times of economic crisis, such as the inflationary spike and the invasion of Ukraine, this situation becomes particularly acute as many heirs cannot cover expenses and must pay off debts with their original assets.

Another reason is the costs associated with probate itself, a process that involves taxes such as Inheritance Tax or municipal property taxes. The notary points out that such refusals usually occur in cases of insufficient cash, such as when one receives housing but not money. Due to the increase in variances over the past two years, there is an opportunity to resort to "taking in accordance with inventory value," which preserves existing capital from possible debt. The mechanism is very useful in so-called "gray legacies" where the assets and liabilities to be received are unknown.

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