Irish market

2024 Full Year

The Irish market overview: The Irish market for Spanish property in 2024

This report focuses on Irish buyers in the Spanish property market over the full calendar year of 2024. It draws on data from the Association of Spanish Notaries to provide insights into sales volumes, trends by residency status, foreign market share, expenditure patterns, and market drivers. It aims to provide a clear and comprehensive picture of how Ireland has contributed to the foreign demand for Spanish real estate in this period.

Sales performance

In 2024, Irish buyers were involved in a total of 2,307 Spanish property sales (Fig. 1). This marks a broadly stable performance, with a marginal annual increase of 0.07% compared to 2023. Relative to the ten-year average, this registered an increase of 0.58%, indicating a modest but sustained level of demand over the long term.

The figures suggest the Irish market remained steady during this period, mirroring the overall stability seen across several other mature source markets in 2024.

Sales by residency status

When examined by residency status, 1,680 of the 2,307 property purchases were made by foreign non-residents (FNRs), accounting for approximately 73% of Irish transactions in 2024. This segment showed a year-on-year increase of 0.06% and exceeded the ten-year average by 0.61%.

The remaining 627 purchases were by Irish nationals already living in Spain—expats—representing around 27% of the total. This group saw a slightly stronger annual growth of 0.09%, with a 0.49% increase from the ten-year average. These figures are illustrated in Fig. 2.

Looking at long-term trends illustrated in Fig. 3, an index comparison over a ten-year period helps contextualise the evolution of these figures:

• The overall sales index for Irish buyers rose from 100 to 221, meaning sales volumes more than doubled.
• The FNR segment increased to 224 on the index, suggesting interest from non-resident Irish buyers has grown slightly above the overall average.
• The expat segment index reached nearly 214, indicating steady long-term growth, though slightly below the FNR cohort.

This use of indexed values allows us to assess relative growth starting from a base value of 100, which represents activity ten years ago. An index value of 221 now means an increase of 121%.

The data makes clear that demand from both segments has grown significantly over the past decade, with foreign non-residents driving slightly faster growth.

Foreign market share (FMS)

Irish buyers accounted for 0.017% of all foreign market transactions in Spain in 2024 (Fig. 4), a slight increase from 0.016% the year before. This recent figure also represents the highest market share for Irish buyers observed during the past ten years.

The lowest recorded FMS over the decade was 0.011%, suggesting that although Ireland remains a relatively niche market in terms of raw market share, it has shown consistent strength, particularly in the last year.

Expenditure trends

In terms of spending, Irish buyers paid on average €2,409 per square metre in 2024, up by 11% compared to the previous year. This increase likely reflects a combination of rising property prices in Spain’s more desirable regions and a growing appetite among Irish buyers for higher-quality or better-located properties.

This spending level places Irish buyers in the upper-mid range of foreign nationalities in terms of €/sqm expenditure.

Relative performance

The final three charts presented in this report compare key metrics across nationalities:

• Total sales volume by nationality
• Year-on-year change in sales by nationality
• Foreign market share for all nationalities

These visualisations provide comparative context, helping to assess the UK’s performance in relation to other important foreign markets in Spain. Readers can use these charts to gauge how British demand measures up against other nationalities in terms of strength, direction, and market share.

 

Market drivers

Several factors likely underpin the performance of the Irish market in 2024. Most notably:

• Ireland’s economy bounced back strongly in 2024, with GDP expanding by 5.5% after a subdued 2023. This economic rebound would have supported both increased disposable income and improved investment confidence.
• The strong Irish economy may also have encouraged more affluent retirees or lifestyle buyers to follow through on postponed plans to purchase in Spain.
• While the figures suggest stability more than explosive growth, confidence in overseas property investment seems to have returned among Irish buyers.

Broader market dynamics could also play a role, such as the ongoing strength of the Spanish holiday rental market, attractive mortgage rates for foreign buyers, and lifestyle motivations including access to Mediterranean climates and a lower cost of living.

Conclusion

The Irish segment of the Spanish property market performed steadily in 2024, with marginal year-on-year gains and a slight increase above long-term averages. Demand remains robust, particularly among non-resident buyers, who account for nearly three-quarters of market activity.

The price paid per square metre rose notably, showing continued interest in quality properties, likely aligned with increased financial confidence thanks to Ireland’s strong economic recovery during the year.

While Ireland represents a modest portion of total foreign market share, its share is at a ten-year high, reflecting consistent and strengthening interest.

Looking ahead, if Ireland’s economic fundamentals remain positive, it is likely this demand will persist or even increase, especially if Spanish property continues to appeal as a lifestyle and investment destination.