Mark Stücklin
The half-yearly report from the notaries just published shows that foreign demand for homes in Spain still near record highs in the first half.
67,983 Spanish home sales in the first half of the year involved a foreign buyer, down 7pc on the same period last year, reveal the latest figures from the Spanish notaries’ association, illustrated in the chart above.
If you compare the first half to previous years going back to 2013, it was the second-best year on record, second only to 2021, when the market was enjoying a post-pandemic boom. Sales were 31pc higher than in 2019, the last comparable year before the pandemic.
Foreign demand by nationality
By nationality, the British were once again the biggest nationality purchasing 6,498 Spanish homes in the first half, down 17pc on last year, followed in the usual order by the Germans with 5,519 (-27pc) and the French with 4,926 (-13pc). All key markets declined with the exception of Russia (+50pc) and the USA (+14pc). Swedish buyers declined the most, down 41pc.
Foreign demand by region
By region, foreign buyers declined the most in the Balearics (-32pc) followed by Andalusia (-15pc) and the Canaries (-13pc). Sales increased in Murcia (6pc) and the Valencian region (1pc).
Despite declines compared to last year, it was the second best first-half on record in all regions (popular with foreign buyers) with the exception of the Madrid, the Canaries, and especially the Balearics, where sales were higher between 2016 and 2018.
Despite declines compared to last year’s extraordinary boom in the wake of the pandemic, the figures from the notaries show that foreign demand for property in Spain remained strong in the first half with the notable exception of the Balearics, where local factors like high taxes, high prices, a shortage of homes for sale, and hostile messaging from local politicians aimed at foreign investors have driven buyers away.
