The Spanish provinces where foreigners are already buying more than 30% of the homes!

The surge in foreign property investment across various provinces in Spain remains notable, with a discernible uptick in their market presence. According to the Property Registrars’ data for the second quarter, foreign buyers accounted for a significant 14.94% of total real estate transactions nationwide, marking the second-highest result in recorded history.

This resurgence in foreign buyer activity, after a lull in the previous quarters, comes against a backdrop of a general decline in overall transactions. The registrars highlight the foreign market’s importance in sustaining substantial volumes in real estate deals.

The Mediterranean coastal regions and islands continue to attract substantial foreign demand, as seen in Alicante, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Málaga, and the Balearic Islands. In these provinces, buyers from other countries purchased a staggering 30% or more of all properties sold, effectively doubling the national average. Leading this trend, the Costa Blanca reported nearly 45% of transactions attributed to foreign buyers, with Alicante standing out as the province where 40% of property sales involved non-Spanish purchasers. Subsequent provinces on this list include Santa Cruz de Tenerife with 38.01%, Málaga with 32.02%, and the Balearic Islands with 30.38%.

Beyond these regions, provinces like Girona, Murcia, Las Palmas, Almería, and Tarragona also witnessed a higher-than-average share of foreign investment, contributing between 29.2% and 15.8% of the total transactions between April and June.

However, it’s noteworthy that while regions like Castellón, Valencia, and Barcelona registered double-digit shares, a vast majority of the remaining provinces had foreign buyers accounting for less than 10% of the market. Provinces like Granada and Zaragoza saw only 7% of their property deals involving foreign purchasers, while in others like Madrid, Teruel, and Guadalajara, the share stood at 6%.

In certain provinces, the presence of foreigners in property transactions is even lower, with A Coruña, Albacete, Pontevedra, Palencia, Cáceres, Córdoba, and Zamora recording figures below 2%.

The trend varies across Autonomous Communities, with only the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands experiencing foreign buyers contributing to more than 30% of home transactions in the second quarter. Subsequently, the Valencian Community (29.91%), Murcia (23.56%), and Catalonia (15.35%) emerged as the most prominent regions in this regard, while Extremadura and Galicia reported a mere 2% share.

This upsurge in foreign market activity during spring led to a 0.42% increase in their share compared to the beginning of the year, inching closer to the previous record of 15.92% recorded in the third quarter of 2022.

The quarterly evolution reveals a mixed picture, with 31 provinces witnessing an increase in foreign market share, while 19 others experienced a decline and one remained stable.

The British continue to hold a dominant position historically among foreign property buyers, though their relative share has dipped slightly from 9% to 8.8%. Other prominent nationalities contributing substantially include Germans (7.25%), French (6.56%), Moroccans (5.37%), Italians (5.22%), Romanians (5.15%), Belgians (5.09%), and Dutch (4.61%).

Despite purchasing fewer than 1,000 properties in the same period, nationalities like Poles (3.92%), Russians (3.43%), Chinese (3.09%), Swedes (2.94%), Ukrainians (2.72%), and Irish (1.66%) have shown increased activity compared to the beginning of the year.