Property
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Just can’t get enough! THE British are still the most important international buyers in Spain. Despite Brexit they still bought 40% more properties here than the Germans last year. Only Polish and Dutch buyers increased on a larger scale than the Brits, who bought a staggering 8,728 properties last year. The Germans bought just 6,230 properties and the French 5,025, which is a worrying drop of 14% in 2023. Overall though, it was almost a re-
British buyers led strong resurgence in Spain’s foreign property market last year By Walter Finch
cord year for foreign buyers, who bought 92,958 properties, which is a 6% increase on 2023 and only marginally below Spain’s record year of 2022. According to data from the Spanish Land Registry, Polish buyers are the rising stars in the market with a dra-
matic 36% increase in purchases. Dutch and American buyers also showed strong growth, rising by 18% and 13%, respectively. Norwegian buyers, however, virtually fell off the map, with a collapse in home purchases of 63%. The final quarter of 2024 was particularly strong meanwhile, with 24,985 sales involving foreign buyers - a 27% year-on-year increase
and the best Q4 on record. This suggests that international demand for Spanish property is accelerating as the market heads into 2025. Despite the slight slowdown in 2023, the 2024 figures indicate that Spain’s appeal to foreign buyers remains robust, with Brits continuing to lead the charge. With no signs of demand waning, the Spanish property market looks set to maintain its momentum in the year ahead. But buy-to-let investors have been
spooked by Spain’s new housing legislation, which has included ‘tenant-friendly’ policies such as rent controls in ‘strained’ neighbourhoods. Nationally, properties sold as investments account for one in four sales. In Madrid, which has so far weathered the regulatory storm, it’s still a healthy one in three. But in Catalunya, where investors are getting cold feet, it’s dropped from to less than one in four – its lowest level ever.