Foreigners buy up homes in Spain in record numbers
Foreigners are playing a bigger role in the Spanish property market, buying more properties than ever compared to Spaniards and hitting historical highs. Here are the nationalities who purchased the most Spanish homes in 2023 and where.
Foreigners accounted for 14.98 percent of total property sales and purchases in Spain in 2023, the highest figure on record according to property registry data. It represents a year-on-year increase of 1.23 percent.
This comes despite high interest rates affecting mortgages and dissuading many Spanish buyers.
In absolute terms, however, foreigners bought marginally less properties in Spain overall last year, just under 87,400 compared to 88,000 the previous year.
By nationality, the greatest proportion of foreigner buyers were British (9.53 percent) despite post-Brexit restrictions, followed by Germans (7.27 percent), French (6.66 percent), Moroccans (5.39 percent), Belgians (5.32 percent), Italians (5.23 percent) and Romanians (5.03 percent).
READ ALSO: Dutch, Irish and Norwegians are buying twice as many homes in Spain
In terms of the most popular regions of Spain for foreign property buyers, it's as you might expect. Heading the list was the Balearic Islands, where foreigners bought over 3 out of every 10 properties on the islands (31.7 percent), followed by the Valencian Community (29.3 percent), the Canary Islands (28.5 percent) and Murcia (23.8 percent).
Looking at the figures on a provincial level, again there are few surprises in terms of the parts of Spain foreigners choose to buy property. Many of them are long-established tourist hotspots.
Alicante was the most popular province, where almost half of properties bought were by foreigners (43.95 percent), followed Santa Cruz de Tenerife (35.73 percent), Málaga (33.71 percent), the Balearic Islands (31.5 percent), Girona (29.86 percent), Murcia (23.84 percent), Las Palmas (22.06 percent), Almería (19.9 percent), Tarragona (16.04 percent) and Castellón (14.52 percent).
In contrast, eight provinces (Segovia, Cáceres, Albacete, Badajoz, Salamanca, Córdoba, A Coruña and Ourense) had purchases and sales by foreigners of less than 2 percent in 2023.
Moroccans and British buyers tend to dominate in the provinces of Andalusia, and Brits are also disproportionately represented in the Murcia and Alicante areas. Germans make up the majority in the Balearic Islands; Italians in the Canary Islands; and Portuguese in the provinces of Galicia.
In terms of the type of housing demanded by foreign investors, foreigners generally tend to opt for new build housing less often (15.8 percent) than Spaniards (19.3 percent).
Almost 10 percent of the total number property purchases made by foreigners in Spain in 2023 equalled or exceeded €500,000, a very slight decrease on the year prior. €500,000 is the threshold for non-EU citizens to gain access to the so-called 'Golden Visa'.
READ ALSO: Will Spain's golden visa be scrapped in 2024?
The record proportion of foreigners buying in the Spanish property market could be down to a few reasons. Firstly, rising house prices have made properties in certain parts of Spain more likely to be bought by higher-earning foreigners than Spaniards.
Secondly, the explosion of short-term tourist rental accommodation (known as pisos turísticos in Spanish) could be driven foreigners trying to capitalise on a country known as a desired location for tourism and popular with remote workers and digital nomads.
READ ALSO: Why does hatred of tourists in Spain appear to be on the rise?
Thirdly, the extraordinary pull of the Spanish labour market in recent years, including a digital nomad visa to make remote work from Spain possible for internationals, means that more and more foreigners are coming to Spain and looking to set down roots in the country.
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Foreigners accounted for 14.98 percent of total property sales and purchases in Spain in 2023, the highest figure on record according to property registry data. It represents a year-on-year increase of 1.23 percent.
This comes despite high interest rates affecting mortgages and dissuading many Spanish buyers.
In absolute terms, however, foreigners bought marginally less properties in Spain overall last year, just under 87,400 compared to 88,000 the previous year.
By nationality, the greatest proportion of foreigner buyers were British (9.53 percent) despite post-Brexit restrictions, followed by Germans (7.27 percent), French (6.66 percent), Moroccans (5.39 percent), Belgians (5.32 percent), Italians (5.23 percent) and Romanians (5.03 percent).
READ ALSO: Dutch, Irish and Norwegians are buying twice as many homes in Spain
In terms of the most popular regions of Spain for foreign property buyers, it's as you might expect. Heading the list was the Balearic Islands, where foreigners bought over 3 out of every 10 properties on the islands (31.7 percent), followed by the Valencian Community (29.3 percent), the Canary Islands (28.5 percent) and Murcia (23.8 percent).
Looking at the figures on a provincial level, again there are few surprises in terms of the parts of Spain foreigners choose to buy property. Many of them are long-established tourist hotspots.
Alicante was the most popular province, where almost half of properties bought were by foreigners (43.95 percent), followed Santa Cruz de Tenerife (35.73 percent), Málaga (33.71 percent), the Balearic Islands (31.5 percent), Girona (29.86 percent), Murcia (23.84 percent), Las Palmas (22.06 percent), Almería (19.9 percent), Tarragona (16.04 percent) and Castellón (14.52 percent).
In contrast, eight provinces (Segovia, Cáceres, Albacete, Badajoz, Salamanca, Córdoba, A Coruña and Ourense) had purchases and sales by foreigners of less than 2 percent in 2023.
Moroccans and British buyers tend to dominate in the provinces of Andalusia, and Brits are also disproportionately represented in the Murcia and Alicante areas. Germans make up the majority in the Balearic Islands; Italians in the Canary Islands; and Portuguese in the provinces of Galicia.
In terms of the type of housing demanded by foreign investors, foreigners generally tend to opt for new build housing less often (15.8 percent) than Spaniards (19.3 percent).
Almost 10 percent of the total number property purchases made by foreigners in Spain in 2023 equalled or exceeded €500,000, a very slight decrease on the year prior. €500,000 is the threshold for non-EU citizens to gain access to the so-called 'Golden Visa'.
READ ALSO: Will Spain's golden visa be scrapped in 2024?
The record proportion of foreigners buying in the Spanish property market could be down to a few reasons. Firstly, rising house prices have made properties in certain parts of Spain more likely to be bought by higher-earning foreigners than Spaniards.
Secondly, the explosion of short-term tourist rental accommodation (known as pisos turísticos in Spanish) could be driven foreigners trying to capitalise on a country known as a desired location for tourism and popular with remote workers and digital nomads.
READ ALSO: Why does hatred of tourists in Spain appear to be on the rise?
Thirdly, the extraordinary pull of the Spanish labour market in recent years, including a digital nomad visa to make remote work from Spain possible for internationals, means that more and more foreigners are coming to Spain and looking to set down roots in the country.
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