The price of houses bought in Spain by foreigners, at a record high: this is what they pay

Meanwhile, the average prices paid by Moroccans (€689/m2), Romanians (€1,086/m2) and Ecuadorians (€1,335/m2) are the most affordable among foreign buyers, with the first two being the most prominent nationalities among resident foreigners, as they were the main buyers in almost the entire country, except in Galicia and the archipelagos, where the share of Portuguese, German and Italian buyers was higher, according to the notaries.

And where are the British, the main buyers of homes in Spain? On average, they bought for €2,077/m2, slightly lower than six months ago, and they have already spent three six-month periods (since the first half of 2022) surpassing the €2,000/m2 barrier.

Non-residents pay record-high prices

Property prices purchased by foreigners vary not only between nationalities but also between resident and non-resident foreigners. Non-resident foreigners continue to pay higher amounts for their homes (€2,598/m2), well above the average paid by resident foreigners (€1,676/m2), representing increases of 2.8% and 2.9% year-on-year, respectively, higher increases than that recorded by Spanish buyers (0.7%).

This figure for non-resident foreigners, close to €2,600/m2, is the highest recorded by notaries and, since the beginning of 2021, has exceeded the values seen in 2007, at the height of the Spanish real estate boom. Two and a half years of record-breaking prices for houses bought by non-resident foreigners in Spain.

On the other hand, foreign residents who paid the highest prices were Americans (€2,742/m2), followed by Danes (€2,526/m2) and Swedes (€2,390/m2). The British paid €1,792/m2, below the Germans (€2,281/m2) and the French (€2,178/m2). Moroccan residents paid the most affordable price at €664/m2.

Quite the opposite of non-resident Ecuadorian citizens, who, on average, in their 24 transactions between January and June this year, paid €5,066/m2, one of the highest values ever recorded so far by notaries. Non-resident Swedes (€3,168/m2), but also non-resident Danes (€3,049/m2) and non-resident French (€2,319/m2) had never before paid so much on average for their homes in Spain. Eight other nationalities, including Britons, Italians and Belgians, have reached some of their three highest prices in the historical series for each nationality.

Average prices of homes bought by foreigners in Madrid and the Canary Islands hit a peak

By region, the evolution of prices paid by foreigners recorded increases in 13 autonomous regions and only declined in four. The highest year-on-year increases occurred in Extremadura (12.3%), Cantabria (11.1%) and Murcia (10.2%). Meanwhile, in the most prominent residential markets, contrasts appear between the Canary Islands (8.4%), Catalonia (7.9%), Madrid (7.7%), Valencia (5.2%), Andalusia (3.2%) and the Balearic Islands (1.9%). Meanwhile, they fell in Aragon (-7.4%), Navarre (-2.6%), Castile-La Mancha (-1.5%) and Asturias (-0.4%).

If in Spain, the latest data published is the third highest in the historical series of notaries, in the Community of Madrid (€3,130/m2) and the Canary Islands (€2,378/m2) the price of housing bought by foreigners has reached its highest level in this first part of the year, while in the Balearic Islands (€3,945/m2) it is very close to the ceiling reached at the end of 2022, and is close to €4,000/m2.

In Andalusia (€2,196/m2), foreigners have not paid so much for their homes since the end of 2008 and have been paying more than €2,000/m2 on average for four consecutive semesters. The Valencian Community (€1,645 per sq m) recorded its fourth highest between January and June, still far from the 2008 record, and in Catalonia (€2,433/m2), it is still below its peak.