The growing arrival of ex-pats in Spain benefits not only the tourism sector, but also boosts the property market. In 2017, foreigners bought more than 61,000 houses, largely in the coastal provinces and the islands. According to data from the Spanish Registry, ex-pats acquired 13.11% of the properties that changed hands last year, with the British, French and Germans leading the way.
The purchasing of properties by foreign buyers was record-beating in terms of pure numbers. Last year, more than 61,000 operations were closed, which is 13.11% of the total number of transactions, according to the Registry. Despite being a lower percentage than what they bought in 2016, when it reached 13.25%, the number of operations is higher than the nearly 54,000 which were registered that year.
“Foreign demand did not only constitute an important factor in the recovery of the Spanish property market, being one of the main centres of demand during the financial and property crisis, but also in the middle of the recovery process with transactions and prices going up, where we see the foreign demand actively growing,” affirms the Property Statistics Registry.
The British are still in the lead for ex-pats who decide to buy property in Spain, making up 15.01% of the transactions by foreign citizens. This is followed by the French (8.64%), the Germans (7.77%), the Belgians (6.39%) and the Swedes (6.38%).
“The profile of foreign buyer is predominantly from nationalities linked to the purchase of properties in Spain for touristic ends. This fact is shown not only by the leading nationalities, but also by the geographical make-up of where the most demand is, focussed on the coastal areas,” point out the Registry.
Where ex-pats buy houses (4th quarter data)
The attractive thing about Spanish properties for foreigners is clearly sun and sand. Unsurprisingly, the coastal provinces, above all in the Mediterranean and the islands, once again have the highest number of transactions in which foreigners have been involved.
In data from the fourth quarter of 2017 (not having detailed numbers for the year) in up to five Spanish provinces, foreigners made up the largest percentage of total operations, more than 30%, and as many as 14 regions registered double digits in the importance of other nationalities in sales closed for the year: houses in Alicante (42.47%), Tenerife (38.75%), the Balearic Islands (35.40%), Girona (32.59%) and Malaga (31.83%) were being looked at by foreigners.
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