Who bought where in H1 2024?

When it comes to who buys second-homes in Spain, the British dominate in the south, the French in the north, and the Germans on the islands.

The Association of Spanish Notaries publishes semi-annual reports on foreign demand for property in Spain. These reports include maps highlighting the top two nationalities purchasing homes in each region, with data segmented by resident expats and non-residents (buying second homes).

The maps above come from the latest report covering sales in the first half of this year. On the left you see non-resident demand, whilst the map on the right refers to foreigners / expats living in Spain at the time of purchase. Both maps give the two biggest nationalities in each category and region.

So, for example, the British are the biggest group of foreign nationals buying second homes in both Andalusia (with 17pc of the foreign market) and Murcia (29pc of the market), followed by the Dutch in Andalusia with 10pc, and the Belgians in Murcia with 14pc.

When it comes to expats / foreign residents, the British are in second place in both Andalusia and Murcia with a 12pc market share in both region, behind the Moroccans on 20pc and 40pc respectively.

The maps allow you to see which nationalities dominate the foreign segment of the housing market in each region.

Noteworthy

It’s noteworthy that America buyers are now number one or two in the non-resident category in five regions, coming from nowhere a few years ago. They are number one in La Rioja, where they made up 27pc of the foreign second-home market in the first half (it’s a small market, so we’re not talking about a lot of homes, but still).

Also noteworthy is the retreat of the Brits who were number one or two in fifteen of Spain’s seventeen regions back in H1 2016 (see map below), just before Brexit, now reduced to the podium in just three regions. They’ve even been knocked off the podium in the Valencian region after many years at the top, where the Dutch and Poles now dominate the rankings.