Interest in buying property in rural Spain is on the rise in the new normal

Villages in Spain account for 13.2% of online housing searches, compared to 10.1% in January 2020

Buying property in a Spanish village could be a cheaper way to move to Spain

31 August 2020, 16:17

Buying a property in rural Spain in a quiet or deserted village could be a great alternative for those thinking of moving to Spain. The coronavirus confinement and increase in teleworking in Spain has led to changes in the interests of housing demand, with many considering leaving busy cities and crowded coasts, generating an increasing interest in properties in villages with fewer than 5,000 inhabitants. In the month of January, 10.1% of the searches for properties for sale that were carried out on idealista were in municipalities with fewer than 5,000 inhabitants, whereas in June, this percentage increased to 13.2% of the total.

Autonomous Communities

Looking at Spain's Autonomous Communities, only the Balearic Islands registered a reduction in interest in smaller towns (from 11.4% in January to 11.1% in June), and in all other regions, the appetite for this type of municipality increased. Castile and León is where this interest has grown the most in the first half of the year, from 23.7% of searches in January to 33.7% in June. It is followed by the region of Navarra (from 18.1% to 26.6%), Castile La Mancha (from 35.5% to 43.4%) and La Rioja (from 20% to 26%). In Madrid, interest grew from 3.7% to 6.2%, while in Catalonia from 9.7% to 11.9%.

Castile La Mancha is the region in which the weight of searches in towns with less than 5,000 inhabitants is greatest, since 43.4% of all searches are performed in these rural towns. This region was followed by Cantabria (39.1% of the total), Castilla y León (33.7%), Extremadura (29.3%), Navarra (26.6%) and La Rioja (26%). On the other hand, the Canary Islands was the region in which this type of municipality generated the least interest (3.2%), followed by Madrid (6.2%), Andalucía (9.9%) and Asturias (10.3%).

Provinces

As for Spanish provinces, apart from the Balearic Islands, the interest in small towns reduced in Girona, Seville and Tarragona, while in all the others it continued to grow. The greatest increase occurred in Ávila (from 52.1% to 63.5%), Burgos (from 22.9% to 33.8%), Cuenca (from 42.3% to 53.1%) and Álava (from 13.2% to 23.5%). In Barcelona increases were also seen, from 4.7% in January to 6.5% in June.

Ávila was also the province in which the greatest interest was shown in rural properties (63.5% of total searches), followed by Segovia (58.3%), Teruel (56.8%), Toledo (53.7%), Cuenca (53.1%) and Huesca (52.6%). Above 40% are also the provinces of Guadalajara (49.2%), Cáceres (41.7%) and Soria (40.7%). At the opposite end of the scale is the province of Las Palmas where only 0.9% of searches refer to this type of municipality, followed by Guipúzcoa (4.1%), Seville (4.5%) and Cadiz (5.5%).