Spanish Market Update 2024
It’s been a bit of a roller-coaster year (again) but it looks like inflation, mortgage rates, political turmoil and the spectre of tax rises has not stopped the British love affair with Spain. In fact, it’s exactly some of those things that are fuelling this trend.
This week the Spanish notaries’ association published figures on property sales involving foreign buyers in the first half of 2024, and the British were, as always, the biggest group of buyers, followed by the Germans and the Italians.
The Spanish market is being boosted by an ongoing influx of buyers from abroad - the number of Spanish property sales involving foreign buyers increased by 1.8% over the equivalent period in 2023 and was the second highest January-July on record, behind only 2022, according to Mark Stucklin of analyst Spanish Property Insight.
He comments: “Foreign demand for property in Spain remained robust in the first half of the year, providing more evidence that the pandemic has helped trigger a lasting surge in demand from international buyers.”
Sales were 32% above the 10-year average and 34% higher than 2019. The market share of foreign buyers was 20.4%, the second-highest level on record, as the breadth of nationalities looking to Spain remains extensive. The biggest increases were from Poland and Ukraine, and the biggest decline from Russia, showing the impact of the ongoing Ukraine war. The USA was in third place for growth, demonstrating the popularity of Spain as a European base for Americans, amidst political uncertainty there.
But where were they buying?
Sales increased the most in Madrid – explained by strong demand from Latin America - and declined the most in the Canaries. The Valencian region was most popular coastal market with 35% of buyers, followed by Andalusia with 21%.
