Foreign demand for Spanish property hits new high in 2017

The annual report from Spain's Association of Land Registrars (Registradores) shows that foreign buyers bought more than 60,000 homes last year.

60,800 homes in Spain were purchased by foreigners last year, based on sales recorded in the Spanish Land Registry and analysed in the annual housing market report.

It's a new record for foreign demand, even during the boom years, and the first time foreign buyers have bought more than 60,000 Spanish homes in a single year.

The market share of foreign demand has decreased slightly from 13.25% of the housing market in 2016 to 13.11% in 2017, but only because local demand has grown faster than foreign demand. Foreign demand accounted for 4.24% of the Spanish housing market in 2009 and has been growing since then.

Overall external demand increased last year, despite the decline of the dominant UK market in Brexit, as demand from all other markets increased. However, the British still make up 15% of the external market, and Brexit has had a relatively low impact on UK demand, at least in volume terms. In value terms, the UK market is likely to decline more, as many UK buyers will have lower budgets due to a weaker pound and lower purchasing power in Spain.