“Brexit doesn’t scare the British: they buy again houses in Spain”
The purchase and sale of housing by foreigners between April and June accounted for 13% of total operations, with about 15,600 houses, according to the Registrars. In a quarter that was not seen since 2011, British citizens are still the most interested in Spanish residential, with 14.9% of the total of homes acquired by foreigners, and break with the negative trend that was taking place in recent years, and that reached to mark minimums at the beginning of year marked by the results of the referendum to leave the EU.
The sale of housing increased in the second quarter in Spain to 119,408 houses, up 10.7% interannual and the highest level since 2011, according to statistics of the Association of Property Registrars. The operations carried out by foreigners accompanied this rise, with about 15,600 transactions. Although the percentage of total operations remains practically the same as in Q1 (13.07%), total operations are the highest in the last quarters.
“In spite of the percentage maintenance of the foreign demand, the fact that it takes place in a growing market in terms of number of operations makes foreign demand truly increasing significantly, maintaining itself as one of the great strengths of the market Spanish real estate “, say the registrars in their report.
By nationalities, the British remain prominent as the most active foreigners in buying houses in Spain. Between April and June they accounted for 14.9% of total operations by outsiders. A quarterly result that breaks with the negative trend that has been registering since 2015, and that increased after the results of Brexit. In fact, during the first quarter of the year, historical lows, with 14.47% of the weight of operations.
“This fact, supported by the increase in the number of sales and purchases, means putting a degree of optimism regarding the future evolution of the demand for British housing in Spain,” said the registrars.
Still, if we go to the interannual data, we still see a drop in the weight of the purchases by the British, with 15.89% of the total foreign operations of housing, its lowest interannual result of the historical series. In the last quarter, the interannual result was of 17.15% and in 2016 of 19%. The maximum reached in 2008, above 35%.
With respect to the other nationalities, during the second quarter, the French (8.48%) fell compared to the first quarter; while the Germans (7.79%) are close to their all-time highs.
They are followed by Belgians (6.37%), Italians (6.17%) and Swedes (6.17%). All these nationalities have a profile clearly linked to the demand for housing for tourism purposes, with high levels of per capita income.
Foreigners prefer the islands and the Levantine coast
There are few new developments among regions preferred by foreigners to buy a home. As in the first quarter, the Canary Islands (37.22%), the Balearic Islands (28.37%) and the Valencian Community (25.52%) of the operations carried out by outsiders, something that has been repeated over the past five years.
The Canary Islands has two consecutive quarters ahead of the Balearic Islands, after years in which the Mediterranean islands dominated the foreign investment interest in the residential. Behind are Murcia (19.18%), Andalucia (13.5%) and Cataluña (13.01%). The region of Murcia achieved record highs in this quarter.
Source: Idealista
