Property prices and rents have risen to record levels in recent years in Spain, a housing crisis which was been identified as the number one worry of Spaniards according to government surveys.
But for many affluent foreign nationals who are choosing to move to Spain or buy second homes here, properties remain affordable.
According data from the Spanish Notary Association, foreigners paid a record price when purchasing homes in Spain in the second half of 2024, averaging €2,362/m2.
However, US nationals, Swedes and Germans paid more than €3,000/m2.
Notary statistics revealed that those from the US paid an average of €3,390/m2, while Swedes paid €3,295/m2, and Germans paid €3,224/m2.
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In the case of buyers from the US and Germany, this is the highest price that these nationalities have ever paid for properties in Spain, while Swedes paid the highest amount ever for Spanish homes in the first half of last year, at €3,330/m2.
It’s typically non-resident buyers from these countries who pay the most for Spanish real estate – which suggests their purchases serve as holiday homes or as investments while they still live abroad.
However, there are still many foreign buyers who are choosing to make Spain their primary country of residence. For example, the number of US nationals residing in Spain increased by 10,000 from 2022 to 2024, so it’s likely many of them bought here too.
Americans cited the political situation in the US, safety and a better quality of life as their top reasons for moving to Spain.
READ ALSO: Why Spain's property prices are rising much faster than in the rest of Europe
The overall average paid for properties across Spain in second half of 2024 was 1,753 €/m2, which includes Spaniards and non-Spaniards.
But foreigners, particularly those buying second homes, paid much more.
Other nationalities that paid more than the average were the Swiss at €2,851/m2, Norwegians at €2,800/m2, the Polish at €2,757/m2, the Dutch at €2,606/m2, the Russians at €2,585/m2, and Belgians at €2,528/m2.
Also above the average were the French who paid €2,447/m2, the British who paid €2,417/m2, Italians who spent €2,394/m2, and the Irish who paid €2,365/m2.
Foreign nationals who paid lower amounts for properties were the Chinese at €2,160/m2, the Portuguese at €2,050/m2 and those from Argentina, Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador, as well as those from Ukraine, Bulgaria, and Romania.
The Moroccans were the only nationality with an average price below 1,000 euros/m2. They only paid €703 /m2 in the second half of 2024. The Romanians paid the next lowest average at €1,224 /m2.
READ ALSO: Four key facts about British property buyers in Spain
Notary data indicates foreigners bought 69,690 homes in the second half of 2024, representing a 10.3 percent year-on-year increase.
Compared to the total housing market, these transactions represented 19.5 percent of the property sales between July and December 2024, falling below the average recorded in 2023, when it exceeded 21 percent.
But not all nationalities are buying more properties in Spain - the Russians, the French, the British and the Belgians all bought fewer properties last year than in 2023, even though British buyers took the top spot with 6,048 properties, 8.7 percent of the total.
Those who are buying more properties than last year include Polish buyers at the top, followed by the Chinese, the Ukrainians, the Dutch, then the Colombians.
READ MORE: Which foreigners are buying the most properties in Spain?
This latest data on foreign buyers comes at a time when the Spanish government and Spanish society are considering the impact outside property purchasers are having on the country's housing crisis.
On April 3rd, the golden visa scheme, which gave residency to foreigners who bought a Spanish property worth at least €500,000, was officially cancelled.
In January, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez proposed either a 100 percent tax on non-resident non-EU property buyers or banning them altogether from purchasing if they had no links to Spain.
The regional government of the Canary Islands has also asked the EU to help them limit non-residents from buying homes in the archipelago, and there have even been calls to force actual residents to apply for the right to buy property in Spain if they haven't lived in the country for five years, a proposal which has since been rejected in the Congress.
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