14.98% of the homes sold in Spain last year were bought by foreigners, the highest percentage in the historical series, according to data published yesterday by the College of Registrars, with an increase of 1.23 points compared to the previous year. last year, and its weight was especially great among the most expensive and largest homes, exceeding a third of acquisitions.
According to the registrars, the percentage increase in their weight in the market occurs despite the fact that in fact their purchases decreased slightly in 2023, to 87,400 homes, compared to more than 88,000 in 2022. But they have gained share due to the fall in purchases made by national citizens, which stood at 495,600 transactions in 2023, 11% less than in 2022. In total, the registrars point out that last year 583,042 homes were sold in Spain, 9.8% less than in the year former.
The weight of foreign buyers is especially great in coastal areas, so they made 31.7% of purchases in the Balearic Islands, 29.3% in the Valencian Community and 28.5% in the Canary Islands, but also has skyrocketed in the best areas of the large capitals, Madrid and Barcelona, ??linked to expatriates and second urban residences, but also to the large influx of immigrants who have joined the Spanish labor market in recent years.
The presence of foreign buyers is especially high among the largest properties: they buy 34.52% of the homes of more than 100 m² that are sold in Spain. In this type of housing, the most frequent buyers were Americans (52.7%), Dutch (44.7%) and British (41.9%).
The high purchasing power of these groups means that in most cases they pay in cash: only 7.5% of the mortgages signed in 2023 were signed by foreigners.
By nationality, the most numerous buyers were British (9.5%), Germans (7.3%), French (6.7%) and Moroccans (5.4%). Different nationalities have geographical preferences, the registrars point out. Thus, in Andalusia Moroccans and British predominate, and they are also leaders in Murcia and Alicante. In the Balearic Islands, Germans predominate, and in the Canary Islands, Italians predominate.
In the province of Barcelona, ??the Chinese are the first foreign buyers, while in Catalonia as a whole it is the French. In Galicia, the Portuguese predominate. In 20 provinces in central and northern Spain the first buyers are Romanian citizens, while in another eleven they are Moroccans, with a special presence in the south.
