Data Shows Spanish Property Growth Fuelled by Foreign and Domestic Buyers

Data Shows Spanish Property Growth Fuelled by Foreign and Domestic Buyers

The future looks bright as more and more confidence in buying returns

The Notaries Association of Spain recently published the property sales figures for March, showing an increase of 19.5% in transactions for the month compared to March of 2016.

If this increase wasn’t enough encouragement, the data shows the interest from domestic and foreign buyers is becoming better balanced.

Domestic buyers – who still remained the bulk of the market thanks to their numbers – fell out of love with the property market during the recession. The property market was kept in good health thanks to an increase of demand from British, German, Russian, and Scandinavian buyers.

2017 brought with it a stronger Spanish economy, which increased the confidence many Spaniards have in their financial security, driving up the amount of property and car purchases.

Spain remains a country of contrasts and not every market in every region is seeing the same performance. The new build home sector is still lagging behind, while sales of apartments are up 20.5% and family homes are up 15.6%.

The data from the notaries also revealed the average sellingprice of properties reached 2004 levels. They aren’t quite at the height of their peak, but they are still higher than they have been for some time.

An interesting finding by the Land Registry, which ranks sales based on the number of homes inscribed on the land register and not in terms of actual sales, showed that March saw an increase in transactions of 30% compared to March of last year.

Property Buyers Wishing for Property in Spain

Property Buyers Wishing for Property in Spain

Property searches for Spain continue to be very strong

It was just last month when TheMoveChannel.com’s Top of the Props report showed around one in seven of every enquiry made on the site was for Spanish property – giving the country the highest amount of activity since 2013, and putting Spain in the top spot in the list of top 10 destinations on the property portal. Now, a few weeks later, and Spain is welcoming more good property news. The province of Malaga – home of the Costa del Sol – has moved into first place for the first quarter of 2017 in the top 50 Hotspots Index for TheMoveChannel.com. Not only is this the first time that Spain made its way to the top spot, but there’s even more good news.

Malaga accounted for 4.01% of the searches for the leading property portal during the first three months of 2017, moving up 18 places compared to the data from the last quarter of 2016, surpassing Florence/Italy down to 4^th place on the way.

In fact, Spain Property for sale has 31 spots on TheMoveChannel.com’s list of Top 50 Hotspots, more than doubling how many spots it had at during the fourth quarter of 2016, and an all-time high for any country.

Spain also held 8 of the top 10 positions, and dominated the top five with Malaga, Almería, Tenerife, and Benidorm; giving Spain four of the top five positions. This gives Spain the largest Top 10 percentage in the history of the Hotspots Index. Spain was also responsible for 13 of the top 15 destinations.

On a local level, the Costa del Sol hotspots making it into the top 50 included Nerja, Benalmádena, Fuengirola, La Cala de Mijas, Estepona, Marbella, Torremolinos and Mijas. Portugal grabbed eight destinations of its own in the Top 50, with Italy grabbing five and France earning three.

Stats Show Interest in Spanish Property among European buyers has Grown by Double Digits

Stats Show Interest in Spanish Property among European buyers has Grown by Double Digits

Brits are still buying property regardless of Brexit uncertainty

Brits have always been the largest single group of foreign buyers of Spanish property. Given that around one-fifth of all Spanish properties sold to non-Spaniards go to Brits, it can be misleading to try and compare other nationalities to British buyers on a like-for-like basis.

That is why the Spanish property portal Kyero has decided to take a different approach across recent months by grouping “Europeans” into a single entity. The results of doing so have been eye-opening.

When Europeans are classed into a single group like this, the data shows that 60% of all inquiries on Spanish property Kyero receives come from Europeans, with the growth since last summer reaching double digits.

The portal has recorded an increase of 25% in leads and enquiries year-on-year (based on the data from February), but the highest spike in growth has come from Europeans.

One interesting statistic is that Spanish property enquiries from British buyers has risen 36% over last February, but sales have only increased by just 1.5% - an anomaly that would appear to be fuelled by Brits taking more of a “wait and see” approach to Spanish property until the issue of the Brexit is sorted. There is certainly a lot of demand for Spanish property from Brits, but they are holding out on actually making the purchases until Article 50 is finished.

This isn’t the case with the Germans, where both interest and sales have increased by over 20% over the past year. Despite Germany facing a general election in 2017, the politics in the country have been stable for a long time, which is reflected by the willingness of the population to purchase overseas property.

Kyero analyst Richard Spiegal understands that Brits are taking a wait and see approach, but is still convinced that would-be buyers will only be mildly inconvenienced by the Brexit. Spiegal said that the majority of British buyers would just be mildly inconvenienced by the Brexit, feeling that it isn’t likely going to change access to travel, the availability, and property rights.

Brits are still interested in buying, but are just in a holding pattern while waiting to see how the Brexit negotiations will unfold. Even though the British are going through a temporary pause for now, the Spanish property market is still on the rise. This is just a further testament to the appeal of the country to people from around the rest of Europe, and indeed the world.

Buyers Just Can’t Get Enough of Spanish Property

Buyers Just Can’t Get Enough of Spanish Property

The next 6 or 7 years looks fantastic for Spain

TheMoveChannel.com is reporting that according to the latest Top of the Props report Spain became the number one destination for the property portal for the first time in seven months. Over one in seven enquiries made on the site were for Spanish property, giving Spain the highest share of search activity since 2013.

Interest in Spanish property has also more than doubled month-on-month. Enquiries about the US fell from 14.65% in January to 11.38% just one month later, pushing it down to second place.

Dan Johnson, Director of TheMoveChannel.com, says that foreign buyers remain in love with Spanish property. Whether they are looking for holiday homes in the sunshine, Golden Visa-seeking buyers from the USA or Middle East, investors around the world are just as eager to get their hands on Spanish property. The Spanish property market has also never been so appealing since the recovery of the real estate market. Now is definitely the right time to buy Spanish property.

There were some other European countries to breach the top 10 of Top of the Props including Portugal and Italy, which came in 3^rd and 4^th place respectively. France came in 6^th, while Turkey came in 9^th and Germany came in 10^th. Two countries from a little further afield making the list were Indonesia, which came in 5^th, and Singapore, which finished 8^th.

70% of Homes sold in Malaga Between January and July Sold to Foreign Buyers

 70% of Homes sold in Malaga Between January and July Sold to Foreign Buyers

Costa del Sol will always be in demand due to

location, lifestyle and the weather

People have known for a long time that the Costa del Sol has always been the main interest for foreign homebuyers and tourists looking at Spain. It’s the home of golden beaches, various resorts that fit all budgets and tastes, and the best and most affordable homes across Spain. Overall the Costa del Sol stands above, and beats out, the competition.

The providence of Malaga encompasses some of the biggest regions in Spain including the Costa del Sol, Nerja, Marbella, Estepona, and Malaga itself – which stands as a beautiful atmospheric city filled with culture and ancient wonder. There are also inland areas to Malaga so it’s no wonder that foreigners are always looking towards it.

Data released this week shows just how popular the property markets in Malaga truly are. The Notarie’s Assocation of Spain say that 70% of all the homes bought in Malaga between January and July were sold to foreign buyers.

To put it into actual numbers this accounts for 4,978 property transactions by non-Spaniards; an increase of 16.9% over the same time period in 2015. Across the whole of Andalucía, which includes Seville, Cádiz, Seville, and other provinces, there was an increase of 18.9% in foreign buyers in 12 months.

When taking domestic buyers into account there was a 10.1% increase in overall property sales in Andalucía between January and July compared to 2015. House prices were on the rise as well; an increase of 2.6% which is double the 1.3% national average.

Brits were responsible for a quarter all of the homes sold to foreign buyers in the Costa del Sol, further showcasing the love affair that Brits have with the Costa del Sol and Spain as a whole.

British Buyers Encouraged by Falling Asking Prices Despite Brexit

British Buyers Encouraged by Falling Asking Prices Despite Brexit

Regardless of Brexit Spain is a great place to buy property

Real estate agents are reporting that there is still strong interest in Spanish property from British buyers despite Britain choosing to leave the European Union. Most of the interest is people considering moving to Spain or buying a holiday home in the Costa del Sol or other areas.

The data from the latest index suggests that Spanish sellers need to be realistic in their estimations about how much property outside the popular areas is likely to cost. The latest data from Idealista about the asking price index shows that asking prices fell 3.1% nationally in June each year.

On a month by month basis asking prices have fallen 1.4% to their lowest level since the economy went south even though they rose briefly at the start of the year.

There are still some significant regional differences though. While the average index continues to fall nationally the asking price is recovering in some areas. Idealista were keen to point out that pries in some of the big cities and areas on the coast have actually risen after bottoming out. The biggest gains are the 19.5% of Barcelona, the 6.4% of Madrid and the 6.1% of Valencia.

It seems the Spanish market effectively have a two speed recovery according to the head of research at Idealista Fernando Encinar. He explained that even though prices were falling inland they were rising in the popular coastal regions like Madrid and Barcelona.

The biggest rises were seen in the second quarter of the year with 1.5% increases in Malaga, an increase of 0.8% in Costa Blanca, Tenerife, and the Canary Islands.

Real Estate agents are under the belief that this could mean more foreign buyers could enter the market and it looks like British interest has gone up following the Brexit vote. Some Brits feel disillusioned with the results of the referendum and are considering moving to Spain, especially the key cities of the country Madrid, Barcelona, and Valencia, and Malaga where there is a recovering economy and decent job market.

A report released last week claimed that the number of British citizens considering a move abroad had risen by 30% with Spain being the third most-popular choice after Australia and Canada. The London School of Economics released a study that suggested around 10% of the 18-25 year olds who voted to stay in the EU are considering moving abroad.

Spanish construction industry Reaches Five Year High Thank to British Second Home Buyers

Spanish construction industry Reaches Five Year High Thank to British Second Home Buyers

Buying property off plan is coming back into fashion as the

demand is returning

Almost half of the Brits buying second homes find themselves drawn to the sun, sea and sand of the Costa del Sol. So much so that a study has shown the number of new builds being approved in Spain has hit a five year high.

The Ministry of Public Works published figures showing that new home licenses in Spain has gone up by 57.1%. This led to a total number of 16,782 new build licenses approved in the first three months of 2016, an increase over last year and the best quarterly result seen since 2011.

The study says that the reason behind the boom in residential construction has been caused because overseas buyers are coming back to the Spanish market once more. Demand from overseas buyers for Spanish properties is on the rise, with a lot of that demand coming from neighbouring European countries.

The leading homebuilder in Spain, Taylor Wimpey España says that the total number of sales so far this year is up compared to last year, with an increase in British buyers of 48%.

With more Brits looking to make their place in the Spanish sun the Costa del Sol has become the most popular choice. Nearly half of these foreign buyers are choosing to purchase property in the region.

The sales and marketing director for Taylor Wimpey España, Marc Pritchard, believes that this summer will be just as scorching for the real estate sector with momentum continuing to build in the market.

He says that construction in Spain is on the rise as the foreign demand is strengthening the real estate market as a whole.

The Costa del Sol has always been the region of choice for Spanish holiday homes and it is taking up that role once more with British people making it their location of choice for second homes.

With British buyers choosing the southern coast of Spain for their homes the optimism the Spanish people feel towards the market increases. It’s expected that these positive trends will continue on for the rest of the year.

Marbella Homes Drawing Attention From Foreign Buyers

Marbella Homes Drawing Attention From Foreign Buyers

Everything about Marbella, from the beauty and atmosphere to the glamour and culture, has always been a hit with both foreign and domestic visitors.

Costa del Sol Property market continues to rise

as demand is going pace

Marbella just wouldn’t be the same without all of this foreign interest. From the birth of the resort town in 1950, when it was just a humble little fishing village, to becoming the home away from home of the rich and famous, Marbella has always seemed more international than it has Spanish.

So no one is going to be surprised to learn that research published by the Spanish Registrars revealed that over 80% of the properties sold in Marbella went to foreign investors.

The data for last year shows that foreigners purchased just under 14% of the properties sold in Spain. 60% of these foreign investors came from the European Union. Another report; one focused only on Marbella, used the Spanish Registrar data to show just how popular Marbella property for sale has become for international buyers.

The report shows that the demographic of Marbella has changed a little though. Marbella remains heavily international but now more Spaniards are coming back to the resort and the towns in the area.

The number of Spanish visitors to Marbella was over 350,000 a year in 2006. The number was reduced dramatically by 2013, when barely 100,000 Spaniards made the journey. There were a few reasons why such as the poor economy, the high cost of staying in Marbella, and the whimsical nature of fashion.

Last year Marbella suddenly became popular again with over 250,000 Spaniards visiting. This number is expected to rise again this year.

The property market of Marbella is looking healthier than ever too. There were 4,390 homes changing hands last year. This number was just one percent below the 4,432 homes exchanged in 2006; the peak of the housing market.

Experts say this is due to the demand for homes in the area, better prices, and higher buyer confidence. The recovering economies in Europe and the world at large are also behind this increase.

Even though more property is being sold the latest data suggests that the properties of Marbella are still priced at around 20% less than they were during the peak of 2005.

Amount of Foreign Buyers Grew Higher Than Spanish Buyers in Spanish Property Market

Amount of Foreign Buyers Grew Higher Than Spanish Buyers in Spanish Property Market

Costa de sol property for sale continues to be in demand

Data has emerged that shows the amount of non-Spanish property buyers in Spain grew by 12.9% in 2015. Roughly 1 in 5 homes sold in Spain in 2015 was sold to a foreign buyer.

Overall a grand total of 76,780 homes were sold to foreigners in Spain. This was a big increase on the number sold in 2014 and was much higher than the 9% increase in Spanish buyers.

A total of 383,987 homes were sold in Spain 2015. Outside of native buyers the most buyers came from Britain. British buyers accounted for 20.6% of all the homes sold to non-Spanish buyers.

British interest also grew more than any other country. The number of homes sold to British buyers was up a whopping 37.7%; over 4 times the increase in growth for Spanish buyers.

British property buyers bought a total of 15,810 homes last year. They were definitely the biggest foreign national group. France came in second with 8.8% of the homes sold to non-nationals going to the French. Next came the Germans at 7.5%, Belgians at 5.7% and Italians at 5.3%.

The sixth-largest nationality were the Romanians. They made up 5.3% of all the homes sold to foreign nationals. This was a massive growth of 59% on the previous year. The amount of Russian interest dropped a little and the amount of American interest stayed roughly the same.

Most of the property sold to a foreign buyer was in Andalucía with 20.5% of all the homes sold to foreign nationals in the city. This suggests that the climate, infrastructure and culture of the entire Costa del Sol region is bringing in the buyers.

The Valencia region was the place where the most property was sold to foreign buyers though. Valencia is home to Costa Blanca and 27.6% of the homes sold to foreign nationals were in the Valencia region. Other popular regions were Catalunya at 15.3% and the Canary Islands at 10.1%.

The Profiles of British Buyers Revealed Through Spanish Property Research.

The Profiles of British Buyers Revealed Through Spanish Property Research.

Middle-aged couple are predominantly buying property in Costa del Sol

Research done into why buy property in the Costa del Sol and Spain has shown the profile of the average British home buyer in Spain.

The majority of British expats (74%) are between 45-64 years old, spend €200,00 on average, and choose homes that are by the sea, according to the latest figures published by Tranio, one of the largest property agents in Spain.

The average size of property for sale in the Costa del Sol and purchased by expats is over 100 square metres and property is most commonly bought in Andalucía, Valencia and the Canary Islands.

It was also revealed that the British buyers make up 30% of all foreign purchases on the Spanish property market, making them the largest foreign demographic. France and Russia make up around 10% each and compete for second place.

The number of Brits buying Spanish property slowed down a little in the last decade but it’s beginning to pick up again.

The rise in activity has been helped by a favourable exchange rate between pounds and euros, a boosted British economy, and great lending rates in Spain. Overall 30% of the property searches made by British people on Google were for Spain.  

The financial crisis that hit Spain is over and property prices are expected to start rising again. Cleaver investors are buying in Southern Spain and the Costa del Sol once again and growth is expected these coming years.

Now is a great time to start looking and buy property in Costa del Sol as there are still some excellent bargain property for sale in Spain.

Report Shows a Rising Demand by British buyers for Spanish Property.

The College of Property Registrars have released data that shows that there has been an increase of 81% in the number of British buying Spanish properties. This is a welcome return of foreign investors to the market.

Data was released earlier this year that showed that Brits were responsible for buying 21%, or one fifth, of the properties sold to foreign nationals in 2015. These statistics also show the strength of the recovery for British buying property in Spain.

British buyers in the Costa del Sol.

The amount of property transactions involving British buyers in 2015 was up to 9,956, a huge increase on the numbers for last year and more than twice the amount of French investors, who made up 9% of foreign transactions with 4,116 homes purchased in Spain last year.

The third largest group of buyers were the Germans, who purchased 7%, or 3,445, of the homes sold to foreign investors.

Demand from foreign buyers has risen by 11% in 2015 based on sales figures from 2104. The signs so far point to an even bigger rise in 2016.

Spanish Property expert Mark Stucklin says that the biggest story from last year is that there was an 81% rise in British demand for Spanish properties. The British are once again the dominant force in foreign demand, but they aren’t quite at the levels they were during the boom period and many northern Europeans are starting to move to Spain in search of a better lifestyle and warmer climate.

Stucklin also commented on what he feels made the market more desirable than in previous years. He said this was down to the low Spanish property prices, as prices have dropped roughly 40 to 50% from their peak before the crash, and the strength of the Euro compared to the pound making it very attractive to buy property in the Costa del Sol and Spain as a whole.