Demand for New Spanish Homes Increases 32.5% in a Year

Demand for New Spanish Homes Increases 32.5% in a Year

Buying off plan property is back in demand as each

new development sells out very quickly

While resale homes are making up the bulk of the Spanish property mark

et, there’s been an improvement in the new build sector across recent months. The data from the Ministry of Development shows that, for the first eleven months of last year, there were 32.5% more requests for building permits than during this time period in 2015.

There were a total of over 59,999 building permits granted in the first 11 months of 2016, which is the most granted in this amount of time for over five years. It is a massive increase of 72% compared to the same time period in 2014; just three years ago.

5,934 permits were granted in November alone – an increase of 25% over 2015 and the most permits granted in a November since 2010.

The data would suggest that the recovery of the Spanish housing market is pretty balanced; positive figures are being posted by both the resale and new build sectors.

What is most encouraging is the sustainable, stable growth of the new build sector. Before the market crashed in 2008, Spanish property was being constructed at lightning speeds. In just 2006, some 900,000 new homes received building permission.

It was obvious that the rate of development was unsustainable. It took the country over half a decade to work through the incomplete, unsold, or just unsellable homes. These days things are looking much better. There’s barely any oversupply left at all in the most popular areas of Spain such as the Costa Brava, Costa del Sol, and the Balearic and Canary Islands.

Swedish Demand for Spanish Property up 20%

Swedish Demand for Spanish Property up 20%

The latest data from the property registrars (Registradores) and the Spanish second home analysts Shario shows how the foreign interest in Spanish property is changing. It looks like the fastest growing group of buyers is the Swedish market.

The sweeds have been buying property for years

but even more so right now

The figures show that Swedish buyers picked up 22.7% more property during the summer of 2016 compared to the previous quarter; meaning Swedes are now the fourth largest group of international buyers.

Brits were responsible or 18% of transactions made to foreign buyers, followed by the French at 9%. The Swedish bought the same amount of homes as the Germans (7%) but there is a crucial difference; Swedish demand is rising at a rapider pace than German demand.

There are some places, such as the Costa del Sol and Alicante, where Swedish buyers have become the second largest group of foreign buyers after the British.

While the specific number of homes sold to Swedes is small compared to the British, it’s important to understand the context. Swedes purchased 2,797 Spanish properties leading to the third quarter of 2016; which was more than the 2,755 properties sold across all of 2015. There was an average of 1,000 properties sold during the second and third quarter, suggesting that 4,000 homes could be sold to Swedes in total during 2016.

Swedish buyers typically prefer to buy two-bedroom apartments or a small townhouse up to an hour away from the airport and close to a beach.

American Demand for Spanish Property up 25%

With more flights connecting to America were seeing

record numbers of American coming to the Costa del Sol

American Demand for Spanish Property up 25%

The latest data from the USA shows that American interest in Spanish property has increased 25% following the November 8 Presidential election.

LucasFox.com is reporting that during the first four weeks following the election there was a large increase in American interest compared to the four months before the election. While not everyone likes the sound of President Donald Trump, experts believe that the rise in interest is fuelled by more than just the fear of the new president.

While some in the States have been left disillusioned by the success of Donald Trump, there is also the impact of the increase in low-fare airline routes between the USA and Spain to consider. This is undoubtedly having an effect on the demand for property in Andalucía.

While the change is good news it’s not been long enough to confirm it’s a trend just yet. The rise in American interest following the election is similar to the rise in British demand following the Brexit. Obviously though many Americans will be taking advantage of the new routes Norwegian Airlines plans to open in 2017.

Americans will be able to benefit from the Golden Visa system that Spain introduced in 2013. With the Golden Visa non-EU nationals will have the right to reside in Spain if they invest at least €500,000 in Spanish property. Many buyers from the US, Russia, and China have found themselves attracted by this particular carrot, and it will likely be a major factor in keeping Americans interested in Spanish property in years to come.

44-year-old American lawyer Robert Edwards, who has himself benefited from the Golden Visa, says that there is a richness of culture to Spain; it is filled with great architecture, food and wine, and is complemented by the lifestyle, street life, and endless festivals. Some things in Spain just don’t exist in America, and the price is right if you stay out of Madrid and Barcelona.

LucasFox are also reporting that there has been a 30% increase in sales to American buyers year-on-year between January and November of 2016. The most popular markets are Barcelona, Madrid and Málaga.

British Demand for Spanish Property up 29% in Q2

British Demand for Spanish Property up 29% in Q2

Demand for Costa del Sol Property will always be in demand.

While the British demand for Spanish property has always been pretty high there has also been a lot of demand from Swedish buyers this past year. Some experts are actually a little surprised by the British interest in Spanish property as it was believed that the Brexit would scare many British buyers away.

It looks like there hasn’t been much of an impact, if any, on the market. The official data shows that Spanish home sales in Spain during the second quarter of 2016 was up by just under 24% compared to last year, reaching a total of 107,838.

The second quarter of the year also saw that there was a sharp rise of 29% in British buyers compared to the second quarter of last year, according to the data from the Spanish Property Registrars.

93,409 of these homes were sold to Spanish nationals which also shows the strengthening of the domestic economy. The amount of Spanish buyers also was also up just under 23% on last year.

After the Spanish came the Brits, who made up 20% of all the transactions that didn’t involve a native. Next came the Germans with 8%, following up by the French and the Swedes who both made up 7%.

The emergence of the Swedes is proving to be somewhat of a surprise as Swedish demand for Spanish investment property was up a whopping 60% compared to last year, while demand with the Italian market was up 46% compared to 2015. Chinese demand has also increased year-over-year by 31% followed by the Brits and Germans with their 25% increase and a 12% from the French.

For the most part it looks like almost all the most loyal consumer groups had a higher demand for Spanish property between 2015 and 2016. The only regions that really cooled on the Spanish market were Russian and Norwegian buyers, who dropped their demand by 1% and 2% respectively.

Brits Demand Exapts in Spain Be Given Dual Citizenship

Brits Demand Exapts in Spain Be Given Dual Citizenship

Its makes sense for Spain to allow Brits 

Dual citizenship.  

There is a petition calling for the Spanish government to give British expats who have been in Spain for over ten years dual nationality. The petition asks that the Spanish government perform an act of generosity for expats following the situation they have found themselves in after the UK voted to leave the EU. The petition goes on to say that many expats, both from Spain and the UK, are uncertain about their future and becoming desperate.

The petition was started by journalist and author Giles Tremlett, who has written for both the Guardian and the Economist. He gave an interview with The Local where he said that he started the petition because of what dual citizenship would mean to him personally and the practical benefits.

Tremlett said that after living in Spain for as long as he has he now has a dual identity. Tremlett is currently based in Madrid and has residency and lived in Spain for over 25 years. Because of this he was unable to vote in the referendum as there was a 15 year limit. He feels that he has been stripped of his European citizenship without being able to have his own say in the matter.

The petition follows the words of the German Vice Chancellor, who said that Germany should offer dual citizenship and urged other countries in the EU to do so as well. The Brexit vote has left many of the roughly 400,000 British expat wondering what will come next for them. Many of them are also worried about what will happen to their pensions and their right to buy property. Acting Prime Minister Rajoy has assured Brits living in Spain that they won’t wake up to find their rights stripped from them.

Tremett is one of the people who is deeply concerned about his pension following the Brexit vote. He has worked in both Spain and the UK and is now unsure what would happen to his pension if he was to move back to the UK to take care of his parents before returning to Spain.

He also made the argument that Spaniards living in Britain can apply for dual citizenship after five years but no such option exists for the Brits in Spain. Dual nationality doesn’t exist in Spain and to become a Spanish citizen one would have to renounce their original nationality. Tremlett is concerned that his sons, born in Spain but British nationals, do not have the right to denounce their nationality.

The petition also argues that there is a precedent for this kind of legislative change allowing double citizenship. Just last year Acting Prime Minister Rajoy granted dual citizenship to the ancestors of Jewish people who were forced out of Spain as part of the Spanish Inquisition of 1942.

Tremlett believes that dual citizenship would solve some of the problems that Brits in Spain are having, but admitted it wouldn’t solve all of them. He says that Britain was a part of the EU for 40 years, while Spain has been for 30 years now. This is more than long enough for people to buy property in Spain and build an entire life and future around being a European citizen. He feels that to have all of that suddenly stripped away is dramatic and traumatic.

Spanish Property Expert Believes Brexit may Affect British Demand for Spanish Property

Spanish Property Expert Believes Brexit may Affect British Demand for Spanish Property

The effects of Brexit are still unknown but could effect prices

It’s been suggested that the weakened pound and the general uncertainty following the British exit from the European Union is likely to undermine the British demand for Spanish properties.

This could be quite concerning given the strong British demand since 2013. Mark Stucklin of Spanish Property Insight is even suggesting that this trend could now go in the opposite direction.

Mr Stucklin believes that the negative impact will mostly hit the areas with a high British demand such as Alicante and Malaga, along with the Balearics, the Canaries, and Murcia. He says that the Brexit vote will mean that there are just less British buyers overall.

One of the reasons that British demand for Spanish property is driven by how well the pound is performing. When the pound goes up against the euro then British demand rises within two quarters. The pound has been wakened following the Brexit however so it’s almost assured that the demand will be reduced as a result.

Stucklin suggested that this drop in demand won’t just come from British vendors either. He believes demand will be down overall and that experts may need to re-evaluate their price expectations.

He also believes that less Brits will move to Spain until deals are made and this will take two years at the least. British expats in Spain are now unsure where things are going to end up right now. It could take years for all the dust to settle and it’s likely more expats will head back home rather than come into Spain.

One group of people who should be unaffected are British people with Spanish holiday homes who don’t plan on selling them. The biggest worry for them is how the UK will look when everything is over.

The latest figures from the Notaires registrar do confirm that a strong pound and Spanish property prices were behind the rise in British demand last year. Property buyers from the UK made up the largest group of buyers with 21% of foreign buyers coming from Britain; a rise of 42% over the previous year.

The British are truly the major players in the foreign buyer market in areas like Alicante on the Costa Blanca and Malaga on the Costa del Sol.

At the same time it’s also true that Spanish property prices will likely go down following the fall of the pound. It means that the exchange market is easier on those changing their pounds into euros. It’s still true that British pensioners looking to move to Spain will find themselves with less money now though.

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.