[Anonymous]

I’ve been looking at the latest figures from the property register annual report 2012.
Analysis of foreign demand for property in Spain 2012

This table summarises the evolution of demand for homes in Spain by nationality over the last 3 years:

Next I’m going to write about which groups are buying in greater / smaller numbers and why.

It’s no secret why Spanish demand is falling, but I’m interested in what people think is driving changes in demand amongst other nationalities. I’ve got my own theories, but I’d like more ideas.

For example, why are Swedes buying less, whilst Norwegians and Danes are buying more?
Why are the French buying so much more?
What are the Belgians up so much, whilst the Dutch are down?

Interested to hear your thoughts.

Mark

[DBMarcos99]

The 2 biggest surprises for me there are the Belgians (up 57.6%) and the Finns (down 20.6) but I suppose being smaller populations the percentage change may be more volatile. Oh, and the Swiss too – why would they buy in Spain?

[Anonymous]

Again i’m going to bang on about it but how many Ecudorians, Moroccans, Columbians etc. bought with 130% mortgages in boom times.

How many of them have handed the keys back to the bank and returned home leaving their debt??

What is the enormous cost of this to Spain and their banking system and therefore to the rest of us?

[Chopera]

Spanish property has always been a popular choice for laundering black money. I can think of very few countries where such large sums of cash will be accepted for property trransactions, and I would not be surprised at all if the banks themselves were accepting large cash payments, no questions asked, to take property off their hands. When the euro was introduced I remember reading about Germans laundering their soon-to-be-worthless deutchmarks they had stashed under their beds by buying up Spanish property. Right now there is a huge fiscal crack down taking place in many countries, especially France, and the tax man wants to know exactly how much money you have got and he wants to tax it. Even if you have ended up owning a fairly useless Spanish property that you never use, at least you have cleaned your cash and avoided a potential prison sentence.

I guess the residency perk might be tempting Norwegians as well as Russians and Chinese.

Apparently The Netherlands is going to be the next country to be taken down by the euro:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/10031680/Debt-crippled-Holland-falls-victim-to-EMU-blunders-as-property-slump-deepens.html

Nobody has really noticed, but they are in the foothills of a huge debt driven recession as well. That may be why they aren’t buying. Although to be honest, their numbers are so low that it could also be put down to statistical noise. Same applies to quite a few countries on that table.

[katy]

I am a bit bemused by those figures. I spent 15 years in Spain and only came across one Belgian 😕

[Anonymous]

I have spent all my live in England & never came across a Belgian. I have one Belgian friend. I met her in Spain !!!!!!

I do not feel that they travel as much as the Dutch, Danes or Swedes.

[angie]

Mark asks ‘what are the Belgians up so much?’ 1111 to 1750, one small step for Spanish property, one giant leap for Belgium it doesn’t seem a lot of sales for a large percentage increase, maybe some of the French are mistaken for Belgians 🙄

Belgium’s own housing market continues to weaken amidst a worsening economy so it’s not like they are all flush suddenly 🙄

Is the total of 26,000+ sales to foreigners that big for one year, maybe it is? 😮 🙄

[Anonymous]

On the above numbers it means that it will take more than six years to shift the 2 million properties. by that time Spanish economy may start turning around.

[Anonymous]

I’m not at all surprised at those numbers, they correspond with what I have witnessed with my own eyes (and ears), and I’ve written about some of it on this very forum.

I’ve even come across the odd Belgian. And the decline in British immigrants is hardly surprising, slight though it is.

[angie]

You are absolutely right there mg, any hint of price rises is likely to result in more property coming on the market, those in negative equity could decide to sell if they can get their capital back 😉

[angie]

Belly buttons mg, what is the point of them, apart from them having to be tied at birth to stop babies flying away out of the window like balloons? 🙄 😆

Most analysts also predict 10 years at least to sell Spain’s over-supply of homes, Mark thought 20 years not so long ago, have often wondered whether 2 million is even the correct figure, there doesn’t seem to be exact figures and does it include construction sites that have stalled? 🙄

[Anonymous]

“I have a sneaky suspicion that some people may put properties on the market during that time.”

It is obvious that people will place their properties, new ones will be built, People who buy between now & the period I mentioned may also buy a another property, move cities etc. In the absence of information on the social demographic changes. I had taken a simple & crude form of working out the years that will be required.

[Anonymous]

@mgspain wrote:

Re: Italian market from Bloomberg: I dislike these types of stores as I think they are an obvious property pumping method and cheap journalism.
“Foreign investment in Italian holiday properties is rising as Germans, Britons and Russians take advantage of a market”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-06/germans-splurge-on-italian-homes-locals-can-t-afford.html

Before I even clicked on it I knew it would be a typical story pushed by Engel & Völkers. I wasn’t wrong. 😕

[katy]

The Russians, Chinese, French( 🙄 ) seem to be buying in at least 5 countries…which one is it? Probably none of them in great numbers 😆

[DBMarcos99]

Quite a large percentage increase in Russians buying, according to Mark’s stats. No reason why they can’t buy in various Med countries – didn’t Brits buy in large numbers in Italy, Greece, Spain, France etc at one stage?
The big question is – will Russians continue to buy, after their Cyprus fright?

[Anonymous]

Mark you don’t happen to have figures for earlier years?

Regarding the swedes we have usually been pretty quick on the band wagon but they have normally been a steady group of buyers/sellers since then but it probably had quite a decline a few years before the top levels of prices and then they started buying again quite quickly after the prices fell and the levels you see now is probably where it’s going to stay. They stopped buying because of the strength in the euro, prices got to high and that other destinations rose in popularity. Very few agents catering to the scandinavian market has really seen any real booms and busts during this period and they usually joke a little bit about that. A borring and steady business clientel if you can put it in that way. I don’t have numbers to back that up but that’s just the feeling I have. It has mainly always been older people that retire there.

[Anonymous]

@Ardun wrote:

Mark you don’t happen to have figures for earlier years?

Yes, I have figures going back to 2006. I’m just waiting to see what people say here before I write it up.

[Anonymous]

def major influx of Belgians, Dutch, Norwegians and Russians in Marbella – and they are buying up quality at half price. I think they are buying cause they have the cash; it’s not a big deal for them and a significant part of their net worth; and they think that at 50% + they probably can’t go wrong. Many are concerned about the banks, the economic situation and also are slowly taking their money out of off shore havens as the authorities tighten their grips.

Also, a huge influx of Moroccan “new rich” who have bought maybe 500 flats in the Marbella area – all you see are maroc reg cars; and only the top brands; same goes for Fuengirola and Torremolinos just with less cash!!! the Moroccans are scared of an Arab spring and are also delighted to have a “glitzy” European resort on their doorstep.

[Anonymous]

It’s true that sales to Moroccans almost doubled last year, albeit from a very low base. Algerians were even bigger buyers. But both still small fry, in the greater scheme of things.

[Anonymous]

Really weird when I come to think about it but I have never met someone from Belgium in Spain. Can’t be a lot of them around the areas I have hung around. The other numbers don’t surprise me at all though.

I bet you can see drastic change for the irish buyers during a 20 year period since there are quite a few of them in southern spain.

France is a weird case since lots of their “richer” population is just trying to get away before the shit hits the fan it seems. Even the swedes with long ties to France are comming back home. It’s also a lot more expensive in certain places to buy.

[Anonymous]

Any more thoughts on this from anyone?

[angie]

A simplistic view might be that most people worldwide cannot afford to buy 2nd homes in Spain, maybe not 1st homes either if their own property markets are suffering, and certainly not in large numbers. 🙄

Once, we used to know of so many Brits definitely buying in Spain, we don’t know or hear of anyone from these shores considering buying in Spain, not only Spain, but anywhere abroad. The overseas property exhibitions, tv shows, press adverts etc more or less have stopped, I just think everyone is either cash strapped, unable to re-mortgage, hanging on for dear life to their money, or just too scared of foreign properties.

That is, apart from a handful of Scandinavians, and maybe dodgies from Russia, China and the like 🙄

The World is bust, most property markets are struggling, people feel poor 🙁

[Anonymous]

As an American on the Costa de la Luz, we’ve met very few other owners. There may be some linked to the base in Rota.

[Anonymous]

@CieloDeCadiz wrote:

As an American on the Costa de la Luz, we’ve met very few other owners. There may be some linked to the base in Rota.

Do you mean to say few other foreign owners in your neck of the woods?

[Anonymous]

I own a property on the Costa De La Luz near Rompido. There are a number of Northern Europeans who own properties in this region as well as the Spanish holiday homes.

[Author]

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