Find out Where Most Foreigners Buy Homes in Spain

- The number of operations carried out by foreigners during the first semester of 2018 was 53,359
The sale of homes in Spain continues to grow, although it shows signs of stagnation. If in general terms, in January of this year the number of operations increased by 0.3%, while the price increased by 2.6%, according to the data of the General Council of Notaries. However, the sale of free housing by foreigners is at a good time. Specifically, according to notaries, the sale of free housing by foreigners increased by 5.6% in the first half of 2018, reaching 53,359 operations.
Differentiating by residence, 44% of foreign sales transactions were made by non-resident foreigners. For the first time since 2010, the sales of this segment of foreigners have reduced year-on-year (-0.8%). Resident foreigners accounted for 56% of purchases, which increased 11.1% year-on-year, assuming a deceleration in year-on-year growth, which in the first half of last year stood at 20.2%.
In terms of absolute terms, the foreigner continues to feel more attracted by the Mediterranean coast and the islands. Thus, the Valencian Community concentrated most of the operations (15,613), followed by Andalucía (9,737), Cataluña (7,560) and Canarias (5,312). Meanwhile, 4,911 operations were carried out in Madrid and 3,173 in the Balearic Islands.
By nationality, the British are still the ones who make the most purchases. In particular, the weight of the British on the total of foreigners was 14.3% followed by the other foreigners from outside the EU (11.2%), French (7.9%) Germans (7.8%) and Romanians (7.3%). On the downside, Switzerland stands out above all (-13.2%) followed by China (-6.4%) and Norway (-5.1%). The largest increases by nationality in the sale of free housing were Morocco (28.8%), Ireland (24.7%), Denmark (18.2%) and Russia (13.8%).
Properties sold to foreigners in Q1-Q2 2018, and the nationality of the most frequent buyers
Price rise
The average price per square meter of operations carried out by foreign buyers in the first half of 2018, referring to free housing, stood at € 1,687. This meant a slight increase in prices by 0.9% year-on-year, well below those registered in the second half of 2017 (5.7% year-on-year). Non-resident foreigners paid higher prices than residents (€ 1984 / m2 versus € 1426 / m2, respectively). The average price paid by non-resident foreigners grew faster (2.0% year-on-year) than by residents (1.4%), although this difference is much less significant than in previous semesters.
Join The Discussion