Expats living in Spain spent 36% more on property in the first half of the year than they did in the same period last year, show the latest figures from the Housing Department in the Ministry of Public Works.

Foreign residents buying homes in Spain spent a total of €4.2 billion on Spanish property in the first six months, compared to €3.1 billion last year.

The lion’s share of expat spending (88%) went on resale property, totalling €3.7 billion, up 43% compared to last year. In contrast, investment in new property fell by 2% to €469m.

The Valencian Community attracted biggest share of expat investment, around €1 billion, of which €889 million went to Alicante, home of the Costa Blanca. Next came Andalusia (home to the Costa del Sol) with €975 million, and Catalonia (home to the Costa Brava), with €817 million.

Looking at the number of transactions involving foreign buyers in Spain, expats living in Spain bought 25,602 homes, up 23% compared to the 20,839 purchased in the first six months of 2013.

Non-residents buying second homes increased by 12% to 2,065.

However, when it comes to the number of foreign buyers, these figures look highly suspect. It is difficult to believe that non-residents are less than 10% of the market. Something is wrong. At the very least the spreadsheet published by the Government had errors in it, failing to sum correctly.