The majority of buyers came from EU countries (58.3%), another 16.8% from the rest of Europe. The British were the most active (6.8% of all transactions with foreigners), followed by buyers from the Netherlands (6.6%), Morocco (6.2%), Germany (6%) and Italy (5.5%).
According to the autonomous communities, the largest increase in purchases by foreigners compared to the previous quarter was recorded in the Balearic Islands (+28.9%), followed by the Valencian Community (+28.2%), the Canary Islands (+22.8%Murcia(+21.7%),Catalonia(+15.4%) and Andalusia(+13.2%). The growth was registered in 12 regions out of 17.
At the provincial level, the proportion of foreign buyers is particularly high on the Mediterranean coast and islands. They accounted for 44.6% of all transactions in Alicante and 34.3% in Malaga. This is followed by the Balearic Islands (28.9%), Santa Cruz de Tenerife (26%), Girona (24.7%),Murcia(21.7%), Las Palmas(20.1%Almeria (17.8%) and Tarragona (15.2%). As the registrars note, the key factor here is the intensity of tourism.
At the same time, average house prices reached a historic high of 2,429 euros per square meter (+8.9% over the year). New buildings have risen in price to 2,495 euros per square meter, secondary housing to 2,294 euros per square meter. The most expensive real estate is inThe community of Madrid(4,407 euros per square meter), followed by the Balearic Islands(4,173 euros per square meter),Basque Country(3,474 euros per square meter) and Catalonia(2,852 euros per square meter). Among the provincial capitals are San Sebastian(6,154 euros per square meter),Madrid(5,428 euros per square meter),Barcelona(4,922 euros per square meter), Palma(4,202 euros per square meter) and Bilbao(3,685 euros per square meter).
The total number of home purchase and sale transactions in Spain amounted to 701,828, which is 1.9% less than a year ago. Nevertheless, this is the highest figure since the third quarter of 2007. At the same time, sales of new buildings increased by 7.2% compared to the previous quarter (to 39,473), while secondary housing showed a decrease of 2% (to 138,623 transactions).
About 75% of the sales were closed with a mortgage. The number of registered housing loans increased by 15.2% over the year and reached 513,092.
Source: Idealista
