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Notaries: Foreigners Bought 13.4% More Homes During H1 2017

27 November 2017 – Eje Prime

International players are setting their sights on Spain for investment. The purchase of private homes by foreigners amounted to 50,087 operations during the first half of 2017, which represents an increase of 13.4% compared to the same period last year, according to data from the General Council of Notaries.

Operations completed by overseas purchasers accounted for 19.4% of the total number of sale-and-purchase operations signed during the period, compared with 20.3% during the first half of 2016, although that figure has been increasing since 2007, in line with the start of the economic crisis.

If we differentiate between resident and non-resident foreigners, 46.6% of the purchases were made by non-resident foreigners, up by 5.1% YoY, which means that operations by resident foreigners accounted for 53.4%, the highest proportion since 2011. They grew by 21.8% YoY.

All of the autonomous regions reported progress in terms of the number of homes purchased by foreigners and only five of them recorded increases below the national average, which stood at 13.4%, specifically: the Balearic Islands, with just 5.3%; Andalucía, with 5.4%; Murcia, with 5.7%; the Canary Islands, with 10.1%; and the Community of Valencia, with 12%.

Finally, the average price per square metre of the operations undertaken by overseas buyers amounted to €1,667/m2, which represents an increase of 2.9% in YoY terms. Specifically, the price paid by non-resident foreigners rose by 4.5% to €1,941/m2, whilst the price of homes purchased by residential foreigners increased by 2.8% to €1,405/m2.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake