Amid the housing crisis, which thousands of people cannot access due to high prices and low saving capacity, foreigners in Spain are beginning to gain ground, literally. Foreign citizens have acquired more homes than ever in the country.
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The demand for properties, confirmed by a new report published by the College of Registrars in its Real Estate Registry Statistics, confirms that in the second quarter of this year, foreign buyers increased substantially, reaching this maximum of 15.98% of the national total, equivalent to just over 26,800 purchase transactions in the country.
This figure comes amid the development of the Housing Plan promoted by the Government of Pedro Sánchez, designed to alleviate a deficit of 750,000 homes. However, the report reflects a 5.7% drop in purchases for the second consecutive quarter.
A relevant detail is that most buyers do not come from outside the continent, but are citizens of the European Union. In fact, data from the College of Registrars reveal that EU Europeans accounted for 57.39% of purchases, compared to 16.75% from other European states. In this scenario, the British lead the market (6.99%), followed closely by the Dutch (6.94%) and the Germans (6.11%).
Even more surprising is the distribution of home acquisitions in the territory where the autonomous cities with the most foreign acquisitions are not from the Community of Madrid or Catalonia. The Balearic Islands and the Valencian Community stand out as the most attractive. In the data, foreign purchases accounted for 32.27% of transactions, and in the Valencian region represented 31.03% of total activity.
Widespread decline
This surge in home acquisitions by foreigners contrasts with the number of purchases recorded in Spain, which accumulated its second consecutive quarterly decline, with a 5.7% drop, totaling 167,934 transactions. This volume is the lowest number of transactions in the last seven quarters, representing a year-on-year decrease of 2.3%.
Quarterly declines were recorded in fifteen autonomous communities and in 34 provinces across Spain. By property type, new housing took the biggest hit, suffering an 11.5% quarterly plunge, limited to 34,919 transactions. Meanwhile, used home transactions fell by 4%.
Access to housing is conditioned by rising property prices. The Repeat Sales House Price Index recorded a new historic high after showing a quarterly increase of 3.14% and a year-on-year growth of 16.7%. Thus, the index stands 39.31% above the maximum quarterly levels of 2007.
The average price per square meter set a historic record at 2,487 euros, after a quarterly rise of 2.4% and a year-on-year increase of 9.2%. Second-hand properties reached a new high of 2,448 euros per square meter (+3.5%), compared to a 0.7% decline in new housing.
The Community of Madrid recorded the highest average price at 4,477 euros per square meter, ahead of the Balearic Islands (4,311 euros) and the Basque Country (3,616 euros). Among the capitals, San Sebastián leads prices with an average of 6,420 euros per square meter, followed by Madrid city with 5,534 euros and Barcelona with 5,045 euros.
The number of new mortgage loans also shows declines. In the quarter, 129,240 mortgages were established on homes, representing a quarterly decrease of 3.3%. However, these mortgages financed 77% of purchases, increasing their share by 1.9 percentage points.
The autonomous communities with the highest number of mortgages signed were Andalusia (25,501), Catalonia (22,844), and the Community of Madrid (20,604). Mortgage debt per square meter recorded its thirteenth consecutive increase, growing 2.9% quarterly, reaching an average of 1,861 euros. The regions with the highest debts per square meter were the Community of Madrid (3,086 euros) and the Balearic Islands (2,844 euros).
