The full year numbers confirm that Brits were once again the biggest group of foreign buyers by a wide margin, 30pc bigger than the Germans in second place.
The Spanish notaries’ association has published its report on foreign demand for Spanish property in the second half of last year, which completes the picture for the full year and shows British buyers still leading the pack by a wide margin, though not as wide as it used to be.
According to the notaries, 12,470 Spanish property sales involved a British buyer in 2023, down 16.5% on the previous year but 30pc ahead of the Germans with 9,611 purchases, down 27pc year-on-year. The French were in third place with 8,647 purchases, down 16pc. The chart above shows the volume of sales broken down by nationality, and the chart below the year-on-year change, with the Russian market increasing the most (+27pc) and the Swedish market declining the most (-35pc).
Compared to 2007
How have the different markets performed since 2007, when the Spanish property bubble was about to burst?
Most markets have increased dramatically since then, with the exception of the UK and Ireland. To avoid a confusing chart with too many lines the final chart below shows just the UK, Germany and France, which also help illustrate the three extremes. The UK is almost 40% below where it was in 2007, whilst France has increased almost five times, and Germany almost ten. Only the UK and Ireland have decreased since 2007.
To explore the numbers in detail….