Foreigners buying property in Marbella

By Salma Hwedi on - 3m. reading time

The Belgians’ and Germans’ buying homes in Spain goes through the roof, however the British are retrying again, informs the ‘El Confidencial’ specializing in economic, financial and political news of Spain.

For a decade the purchase of Spanish homes by foreigners has been living its sweetest moment, almost doubled and already represents 2 out of every 10 operations that are closed in Spain, according to data from the General Council of Notaries.

Evolution of the purchase of Spanish property by foreigners in volume

Evolution of the purchase of Spanish property by foreigners in volume

Source: General Council of Notaries

In fact, the profile of foreigners who buy houses in Spain has changed significantly. At the end of 2007 the British accounted for almost 35% of transactions made by foreign buyers, currently represent only 14% of the total. Brexit has had a direct effect on the transactions they carry out in Spain, which since the beginning of 2012 were increasing.

Have a look at the graphic below.

Properties purchased by the British in Spain

Properties purchased by the British in Spain

Source: General Council of Notaries

However, the impact on the Spanish market has been negligible, as not only 100,000 homes acquired by foreigners have been exceeded, but other nationalities, such as Germans, French, Belgians or Swedes, have bet heavily on the Spanish market compensating cutback of the British.

In the case of the Germans, the purchases have multiplied by 8 - they have gone from 1,000 purchases in 2007 to over 8,000 last year, while the operations carried out by the French have increased by almost 400% - 1,800 against 8,500 homes.

Purchase of homes by foreigners (2007-2017)

Purchase of homes by foreigners (2007-2017)

Source: General Council of Notaries

Other European nationalities have also bet heavily on Spain when buying a house abroad. The purchases of Swedes have multiplied by 8 - from 657 units to almost 5,340, the Italians by five and the Belgians have gone from buying 550 to just over 6,000 houses (an increase of 1,000%)! Outside Europe, the Chinese bought almost 5,000 homes last year compared to just over 1,000 a decade ago, while Moroccans have gone from buying 3,200 units to 5,500.

Variation (%) of transactions between 2007 and 2017

Variation (%) of transactions between 2007 and 2017

Source: General Council of Notaries

The Mediterranean and islands are preferred choices.

Although all communities register increases in the number of home purchases for four years, not all of them attract foreigners in the same way. The purchases were concentrated on the Mediterranean coast and archipelagos. Thus, the Autonomous Regions with the greatest weight of available property transactions carried out by foreigners were the Balearic Islands (40.5%), Canarias (37.6%), Valencian Community (37.0%) and Murcia (28.4%), exceeding the national average (19.5%).

On the other hand, 10% or less of the total sales to foreigners showed the peninsular center and the Cantabrian coast: Aragón (10.0%), Navarra (9.4%), Castilla - La Mancha (8.9%), Basque Country (5.5%), Asturias (5.4%), Cantabria (5%), Castilla y León (4.8%), Galicia (4.5%) and Extremadura (3.8%), Andalusia (19.2%) and Catalonia (18.4%) are once again around the average and Madrid (12.2%) is several points below.

Average price of m2 according to nationality

Average price of m2 according to nationality

Source: General Council of Notaries

Finally, transactions also show important differences between the average price of square meter, which are based on nationality. The Swedes pay the highest price - 2,228 euros per square meter, although the Americans, Germans, Swiss, Danish and Norwegian have also paid more than 2,000 euros per square meter in their homes in Spain.

Collaborator Salma Hwedi