"(...) the recourse to private capital to build residential with sales that are very clear is more common than ever".
"Foreign investors are buying more homes than ever before".. Not only is this a clamour in the sector, but it is also a statistical reality. The arrival of the pandemic put the brakes on the arrival of property tourists to Spain, but the trend is now reversing and non-residents who take advantage of their trip to our country to buy a home are coming back with a vengeance.
In 2019, 102,264 transactions were signed by foreigners. With the arrival of the pandemic, this movement came to a screeching halt following the limitations on mobility between countries. For some months now, there has been a pent-up demand, the result of the situation experienced in the first quarters of the pandemic, which is now becoming effective.
In the last six months of 2021, the sale and purchase of freehold properties by foreigners increased by 41.9% compared to the same period of the previous year, returning to a figure very similar to the records of 2019. Property tourists tend to look for holiday properties on the coast, investment properties in the cities and a small proportion of them are looking for homes for a family member moving to Spain.
The Valencian Community occupies the first position, with 29,019 transactions signed by foreign nationals, a quarter of the total number of transactions in Spain in 2021. Behind is Andalusia, with 22,625 homes purchased; Catalonia, with 17,493; the Community of Madrid, with 8,973; the Canary Islands, with 7,845; and the Balearic Islands, with 7,263, according to data registered with the INE.
The British account for the highest percentage of foreign real estate transactions, but it is the Americans and Germans who invest the most in the capital. Thus, the Risk Management Department of DEXTERJosé Enrique Chasserot notes that "The security that developers transmit to us and that supports their commercial strength derives from the fact that a very high percentage of sales in the case of some urbanisations, especially on the Mediterranean coast, are from foreigners. And, therefore, the recourse to private capital to build residential properties with very clear sales is more common than ever"..
