Aug 7, 2024
The percentage of Spanish dwellings purchased by foreign residents increased again.
According to data from the Land Registrars, in the second quarter of 2024, the percentage of homes bought by foreigners amounted to 14.94% of the purchases made in Spain as a whole, the second highest result in history..
In the second quarter of this year, demand for housing by foreign buyers was strong on the Mediterranean coast and the islands. So strong that in four provinces, foreign buyers accounted for at least 30% of all home purchases during this period..
These are the provinces of Alicante, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Malaga and the Balearic Islands..
The leader was the Costa Blanca, where almost 45% of the transactions were carried out by foreigners. Alicante is the only province where 40% of property transactions involve a foreign buyer. This is followed by Santa Cruz de Tenerife with 38.01%, Malaga with 32.02% and the Balearic Islands with 30.38%..
In Girona, Murcia, Las Palmas, Almería and Tarragona, the weight of home sales by foreign buyers is also significant, accounting for between 29.2% and 15.8% of the sales registered between April and June..
Slightly below the average in terms of foreign purchases are Castellón, Valencia and Barcelona, while in the remaining 38 provinces, foreigners account for less than 10% of the market. For example, in Granada and Zaragoza, foreigners bought 7% of the homes in spring, while their share in Madrid, Teruel and Guadalajara was 6%.
In 26 provinces, the participation of foreigners in the sale and purchase of homes is less than 5%, with the lowest figures in A Coruña, Albacete, Pontevedra, Palencia, Cáceres, Córdoba and Zamora.
(Compras de vivienda por parte de extranjeros en cada provincia [Datos del segundo trimestre de 2024. Porcentaje sobre el total de transacciones)
Share of home purchases in Spain by nationality
The current economic situation paints the following picture of the distribution of real estate transactions among the different nationalities:
The British continue to lead home purchases in Spain, with almost 2,000 transactions between April and June, but their relative weight has fallen for the first time, from 9% of the total to 8.8%..
Historically, British nationals have been the most prominent nationality, accounting for around 25% in 2015. However, since the end of 2020, when the housing market started to recover again from the coronavirus epidemic, their relative weight has barely exceeded 10% in four of the last ten quarters.
After the British (8.8%), the highest rates of property sales in Spain in the second quarter of 2024 were registered among the Germans (7.25%), the French (6.56%), Moroccans (5.37%), Italians (5.22%), Romanians (5.15%), Belgians (5.09%) and the Dutch (5.22%),56%), Moroccans (5.37%), Italians (5.22%), Romanians (5.15%), Belgians (5.09%) and the Dutch (4.61%), which means transactions in absolute terms of more than 1,000 homes purchased.1,000 homes purchased.
Although all other nationalities bought less than 1,000 homes during this period, their share increased compared to the beginning of the year, as in the case of Poles (3.92%), Russians (3.43%), Chinese (3.09%), Swedes (2.94%), Ukrainians (2.72%) and Irish (1.66%)..