Foreigners buying 30% more homes than in 2019, outpacing Spaniards

Foreign interest in buying homes in Spain drives strong housing demand in this expansion cycle

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Europa Press ,

28 January 2025, 9:00

Foreign homebuyers have completed 30.7% more property transactions than in 2019, nearly double the 17.7% increase recorded by Spanish buyers during the same period.

As a result, foreigners purchased 125,857 homes in the first nine months of 2024, accounting for 18.4% of total transactions, according to a CaixaBank Research study based on Ministry of Housing and Urban Agenda data.

Among foreign buyers, purchases by non-resident foreigners rebounded strongly in 2021 and particularly in 2022, significantly outpacing the growth seen among residents and Spaniards. This recovery followed a sharper decline during the Covid-19 crisis when transactions fell by 30.2%.

In 2023, property sales declined across all buyer groups due to rising interest rates. However, the drop was less pronounced for foreign residents (-4.7%) compared to non-residents (-12.9%) and Spaniards (-11.6%). This is largely because the increase in interest rates coincided with a significant wave of migration, which has driven property transactions by foreign residents.

Non-resident foreigners buy more expensive homes

The study also reveals that non-resident foreigners purchase properties at a higher average price per square metre – €2,895/m² –compared to foreign residents and Spaniards, whose averages are €1,734/m² and €1,659/m², respectively.

Regarding location, foreign buyers are primarily concentrated in tourist hotspots such as the archipelagos and the Mediterranean coast, as well as in urban centres like Barcelona and Madrid. Alicante is the province with the highest number of foreign buyers, accounting for approximately half of all property transactions, with non-residents playing a particularly significant role (68.6%).

Regarding nationalities, the majority of non-resident buyers come from European countries, with the British, Germans, Dutch, Belgians and French leading the way. Together, they account for 48.5% of all transactions by non-residents.

Among foreign residents, Moroccans were the top buyers in the first half of 2024, followed by Romanians and Italians, dominating property transactions in most autonomous communities. Exceptions include Galicia, where the Portuguese were the leading buyers, and Madrid, where Chinese nationals recorded the highest number of purchases.