New mortgages shoot up 19 percent in June

Spaniards took out 17,137 home mortgages in June, 19 percent up on 12 months earlier, the preliminary figures from Spain's national statistics office, the INE, reveal.

The average value of those mortgages also rose 1.3 percent to €98,582 ($130,000), the numbers show, with the total value coming in at just under €10.7 billion

However, the year-on-year rise in June followed hot on the heels of two consecutive months of annual falls — 13.4 percent in April and 3.4 percent in May.

Banks green-lighted 100.935 loans from January to June 2014, down 14 percent on the number for the first six months of 2013, and the lowest figure since 2003.

The six-month figure is the equivalent to the numbers seen during just one month of Spain's property boom, Spain's El País newspaper noted.

The total amount of money loaned out was also down 12.7 percent year on year, the INE stats show.

Some 92.7 percent of Spain's new mortgages had a variable interest rate, while just 7.1 percent had a fixed interest rate.