Figures show foreign home hunters prefer coastal properties

Let's toast the Coast: Spanish properties by the coast are the most popular with foreign buyers

Home hunters in Spain overwhelmingly favour the country’s coastal regions, according to recent figures produced by Kyero.

Their research also shows that the majority of expats are currently searching for properties within the €50,000 – €150,000 price range – some way down from the heady heights of just a few years ago, when the average price of a property in Spain topped €250,000.

Broken down further, the analysis also shows that 33 per cent of inquiries were for three-bedroom properties, and 55 per cent of home hunters wanted a swimming pool…

But the figures also confirmed what most people would have already suspected – Spain’s coastal regions are immensely popular with foreign buyers, with the Costa del Sol, Alicante and the Balearic Islands topping the charts.

Statistics from Spain’s General Council of Public Notaries show that Brits remain the largest single group of international property buyers, followed by Germans, Scandinavians and the Russians, who are among the fastest-growing nationalities looking at property in Spain, along with the Chinese and buyers from the Middle East.

With the country’s property market gaining strength week in, week out, more good news followed last week from the tourism industry, as latest figures showed that June saw record tourist numbers in Spain.

In total, 6.3 million tourists visited Spain in June, which is up by a massive 5.3 per cent on the same month in 2012. At the same time, figures from the tourism agency FRONTUR showed that tourist spending throughout Spain was up 6.6 per cent for the first half of the year. Overall, €24.4bn of tourist money was pumped into Spain’s economy in the first six months of 2013.

Again, Brits top the charts, sharing 40 per cent of the market with German tourists. Interestingly, Catalonia has received most visitors so far in 2013, with 6.6 million people seeing the sights there (although this boon can partly be attributed to the fact that the region lies on the border with France, and so is a popular transit route).

Such research shows just how important the overseas visitor is to Spain’s economy, whether holidaymaker or home hunter. In return, their loyalty and love for the country is rewarded with excellent infrastructure, a warm welcome, spectacular cultural attractions, fine beaches and the best climate in the world.

Little wonder, then, that Spain proves perennially popular with pretty much all of Europe, and beyond…