Spanish property sales involving a foreign buyer had the second best Q3 on record, and the market share of foreign buyers revisited an all-time high.

28,670 Spanish homes were bought by foreigners in the third quarter of the year (Jul-Sep), according to government figures, and 21,641 according to the land registrars’ association, the difference being in the way they count foreign sales. 

In both cases it was the second-highest number of foreign purchases in a third quarter on record, as you can see from the chart above illustrating the Ministry of Housing’s figures.

Year-on-year, sales were down 12pc according to the government’s figures, and 19pc according to the registrars, which says more about last year’s boom than the strength of demand this year. Compared to any other year, sales are up. Year-to-date (Jan-Sep), sales are down 9pc compared to last year, but 32pc higher than both 2021 and 2019. 

Sales by nationality

As usual the British were the biggest group of foreign buyers with 2,188 sales, followed by the Germans with 1,517 and the French with 1,454. Having been challenged by the Germans for market leadership in 2021, the British are once again pulling ahead, as illustrated by the next chart.

Sales by region

The Valencian region was the most popular destination by a wide margin, with 9,258 sales, followed by Andalusia (5,464) and Catalonia (4,289). Sales declined the most in the Balearics (-28pc) followed by Andalusia (-14pc), Catalonia (-12pc), and the Valencian region (-8pc). Sales rose by 3pc in Murcia.

Market Share

Spanish demand in Q3 fell by 17pc to 113,088 acquisitions (government figures), a bigger decline than foreign demand, leading to an increase in the market share of foreign buyers who represented 20.2pc of the Spanish property market in Q3, the highest level on record (equal to Q3 2015).

2023 is turning out to be a cracking year for foreign demand that only looks unimpressive compared to last year.