Top destinations where foreigners prefer to buy property in Spain

The housing market is recovering faster and faster after the lifting of most measures that restrict people’s mobility.

The recovery is reflected in an increase in real estate sales in Spain by 26.2% in the third quarter of the year to 154,000 transactions between July and September 2021. More and more foreigners are also thinking of buying apartments in Spain.

Property sales in Spain by foreigners

According to the latest statistics of the real estate registration office, property transactions with foreigners are growing again.

The percentage of home purchases by foreigners in the third quarter exceeded 10% reaching 10.7%. This is 16,000 home sales by foreigners more than last summer.

Despite these considerable figures, the impact of the pandemic and the aftermath of Brexit are still being felt by UK nationals, whose share in the Spanish housing market is at an all-time low. For the first time, the British did not top the list of foreign home buyers during the quarter.

Who buys property in Spain

The Germans topped the list, accounting for 10.4% of the total number of foreign home buyers in Spain with over 1,680 transactions. Thus, the British moved to second place with 9.9% and almost 1,600 purchases. They are followed by the French (7.8% and 1,262 purchases), Moroccans (6.5% and 1,055 purchases), Belgians (5.6%) and Romanians (5.3%).

Where foreigners prefer to buy housing in Spain

The areas with the most property purchases by foreigners are the Balearic Islands (34.3%), the Canary Islands (23.6%), Valencia (19.7%), Murcia (17.4%), Andalusia (11.3%) and Catalonia (11%).

Islands and the Mediterranean communities are those areas where the demand for housing amongst foreigners is the largest, especially amongst nationalities with higher per capita income, while nationalities who choose Spain as their place of work and decide to buy a house, have a more balanced geographical distribution throughout Spain.

The Balearic Islands (34.3%), Alicante (33.5%) and Santa Cruz de Tenerife (27.6%) lead the regions with the largest share of foreigners in the residential real estate market, followed by Malaga (26.5 %), Girona (20.5%), Las Palmas (19.6%), Murcia (17.4%), Almeria (12.6%), Tarragona (11.6%) and Castellón (10.2 %).

Home sales forecast

According to the quarterly report by the Land Registry, with international geographic mobility recovering and the level of confidence in the control of the pandemic increasing, foreign demand will continue to grow, helping to boost sales in the residential real estate sector.

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