This is a website for buyers, owners, and sellers of property in Spain, offering reliable information and resources to help you get things done with confidence. It is run by Mark Stücklin, author of the Spanish Property Doctor Column in The Sunday Times (2005-2008), and the book ‘Need to Know: Buying Property in Spain’ published by Collins.
The General Council of Notaries published a report this week on foreign demand for property in Spain last year, showing regional markets broken down by nationality, and how much foreigners spent on property last year.
The figures show that foreign demand rose by 12.9% in 2015, and 52% of foreign buyers were non-residents buying a second-home, whilst 48% were foreigners living in Spain.
The British were the biggest group of foreign buyers (21%), followed by the French (9%), Germans (7.5%), Belgians 6%), and Italians (5.5%).
By region, foreigners were 44% of the market in the Balearics, 39% in the Canaries, 37% in the Valencian region, 25% in Murcia, and 25% in Andalusia.
Foreign demand growth was strongest in regions with small markets, where even a modest increase in foreign demand translates into a big increase in percentage terms. Growth was biggest in La Rioja (+59%), Castilla-La Mancha (+57%), Navarre (+41%) and lowest in Extremadura (+10%), the Valencian Community (+7%), and Catalonia (+5%).
In terms of €/m2, foreigners spent an average of 2,580 €/m2 in the Balearics, 1,867 €/m2 in Madrid, and 1,855 €/m2 in Catalonia. Foreigners buying in Extremadura spent just 576 €/m2, and 710 €/m2 in La Rioja.
The following two charts from the notaries show the change in the volume of demand (chart on left) and the change in budgets (chart on the right).
The chart on the left, which breaks down demand into resident (red) and non-resident (blue), shows that non-resident demand for second homes in Spain is now 60% higher than it was in June 2007, at the peak of the real estate boom, having fallen by 50% in June 2009. That’s quite a recovery.
Resident demand, on the other hand, has only just recovered to where it was back in 2007, having collapsed 60% between 2007 and 2008.
Budgets (right chart showing the price paid in €/m2) are still around 20% below the level in 2007, and have only recently bottomed out and started to creep back up. Foreign non-residents might be buying 60% more holiday-homes than they did in the boom, but they are still paying 20% less.
RESIDENT VS. NON-RESIDENT
The notaries provide maps showing the biggest two groups of foreign buyers in each autonomous regions, with the map on the left showing non-resident buyers, and the map on the right showing resident buyers (foreigners resident in Spain).
The British, French and Germans dominate foreign demand in most regions when it comes to second-homes, whilst Romanians, Chinese and Moroccans dominate in most regions as resident buyers, with the exception of Andalusia, the Valencian Community and the Balearic and Canary Islands, where the British, Germans, and Italians also feature as one of the two biggest groups of resident buyers.
Non-residents spent 5.6% more in terms of €/m2 than the previous year, and residents 0.1% less.
