Foreign demand for Spanish property rises in Q4

In the last quarter of last year, foreign demand for residential property in Spain increased significantly. The overall Spanish property market increased by 19.8% in the fourth quarter of 2017, with 111,921 sales the highest in the fourth quarter following a recovery in the property market.

Foreign buyers accounted for 15,266 purchases, the highest figure in the fourth quarter since the Spanish housing market last peaked in 2007. The increase in demand was driven by a 19.7% rise in domestic demand and a 20.4% increase in foreign demand compared with the same three months in 2016.

British buyers made the most purchases, with 2,384 recorded purchases over the three months, followed by the French with 1,242 and German buyers with 1,198. This means that British buyers still accounted for 16% of the share of foreign demand, while the French and Germans made up just 8%. In addition to buyers from these countries, the Spanish property market welcomed buyers from all over the world, with foreign demand accounting for 42% of the total market.

While demand from Germany increased by a somewhat modest 3.4%, demand from Switzerland actually fell by 16.1%, which may be due to the sharp rise in property prices in Switzerland itself.