The number of mortgages in Spain fell by 28.5 percent from August 2011 to August 2012, the Spanish National Institute of Statistics reported on Monday.

From July to August, the number of mortgages decreased by 13.1 percent, meaning there have been 28 months of consecutive declines.

A total of 21,106 mortgage operations were granted in August, the lowest since 2003, which reflects continued crisis in the housing sector.

The average value of a mortgage in August stood at 103,592 euros, a fall of 4.8 percent from July and 3.3 down on the same month last year.

The real estate market in Spain has yet to recover from the bursting of the housing bubble 2008, when prices peaked at 2,000 euros per square meter.

Since then, prices fell to 1,565.6 euros per square meter in a 25.5 decrease. With over 600,000 houses still unsold, experts believe prices and mortgage levels faces further decline.

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