The new hit on the Residential Property Market in Spain
Spain attracts tens of millions of foreign tourists annually. However, only a small part of them can afford to buy homes in the country to enjoy life there without having to rent apartments, houses or hotel rooms.
| Traditionally rich foreigners choose the Spanish Mediterranean coast when they plan to buy a home in SpanishI. Most often they buy their Spanish home in the autonomous districts of Catalonia, Valencia, Andalusia, as well as in the Balearic Islands, including Ibiza and MajorcanS |
Recently, however, there has been some change in their preferences, and wealthy foreigners are beginning to buy homes in Spanish regions, which they would hardly stop a few years ago, local experts in the real estate sector say.
The new market hit
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« We notice an increase in this type of real estate buyers ( – ed.) In the northern regions (in Spain – ed.), » Said Paloma Perez, quoted by the El Pais newspaper. She is the CEO of the Spanish division of the real estate company Sotheby’s International Realty, which is part of the brand of the famous Sotheby’s brand.
Constanta Maya, the operating director of the real estate company, Engel & Völkers Iberia, points out that foreign home buyers in the northern part of Spain began to increase last summer. They prefer it because of most greenery and cooler climate, notes the real estate expert.
Constanta Maya notes that, depending on its nationality, foreign real estate buyers are directed to different parts of northern Spain.
« For example (the autonomous area – ed.) Cantabria has traditionally attracted real estate buyers from France, but they are already turning their eyes and representatives from other countries, including Americans, » said the operating director of Engel and Föllkers Iberia.
Her colleague Rafael Rossendo, director of the Galicia Branch of the Lucas Fox Real Estate Company, also notes that Americans are beginning to buy more real estate in northern Spain.
| « They have been particularly active (on the local property market – ed.) Since last summer, when interest in properties for more than € 1 million has increased. In July 2024, we sold the most expensive complex of three apartments in the city of Vigo to be born in Galicia but emigrated to the United States, » Rafael Roseno said. |
He also tells El Pais and about a German family who owns a house in the city of Altea, on the Spanish Mediterranean coast, but has decided to pay 1.8 million euros for real estate in the northern Galicia region to « save the summer heat. »
A study implemented by the financial institution of Kaishabank (Caixabank) shows that in 2024 the Galicia Autonomous Region reported the largest growth (22.35) in the sales of residential property among all regions in Spain. Following are La Rioha (205 height), Castile-La Mancha (19.4%), Asturias (18.6%), Cantabria (16.4%) and Navara (15%).
Prices jump
Residential property prices in northern Spain are increasing amid the increasing interest of foreign buyers to them, according to experts in the real estate sector.
The real estate company Engel and Fölkers recently announced the results of its study based on the value of the value of real transactions, concluded in 2024. For example, in Cantabria, the average price per square meter of living space has jumped by 107% compared to 2023 to 4110 euros.
In the town of Pontevera, in the northwestern part of Spain, the dwellings have increased by an average of 44% to 2068 euros per square meter.
In the province of Alava, which is part of the Basque Autonomous Region in northern Spain, the average price per square meter of living space jumped by 28 percent last year compared to 2023 to 2956 euros.
However, these prices can hardly be compared to the value of residential properties in the most preferred areas of Spain, along the Spanish Mediterranean coast and on the Balearic Islands.
| In the resort town of Marbella, in the southern Spanish Autonomous Region Andalusia, the square meter of housing reached an average price of 8650 euros. In another resort town – Santa Eulia del Rio on Ibiza Island is « cheaper ». There, the average price per square meter of living space reached 5363 euros, according to the study. |
Protests against the housing crisis in Spain
The increased interest of foreigners in the homes in Spain may also delight local real estate brokers, but is greeted with increasing dislike of many Spaniards, a number of media outlets said.
Recently, hundreds of thousands of protest in dozens of cities in Spain against the high housing rents and the rise in residential property, Reuters recalls.
The average rents of housing in Spain has doubled in the last decade, and their prices have increased by an average of 44%. This is indicated by data on the online platform for « Idealista » real estate ads. Against this background, the offering of housing for rent has halved after Kovid the pandemic.
Home deficiency comes against the background of highly developed tourism in Spain. Many homeowners prefer to earn them by offering them through short -term rental platforms, including Airbnb.
