Foreign demand boosting luxury Spanish property sales, while general mortgage activity rises

The luxury home market of Spain is being driven by foreign interest and cash, statistics show.

New data released this week by luxury property real estate firm Lucas Fox has revealed that foreign buyers accounted for 65% of their sales in Spain over the first three quarters of the year, with British and French buyers leading the way…

While Spain is most adept at delivering property opportunities for all budgets, there are many corners of the country that offer prime real estate for those operating at the top end of the market. These regions include Madrid, Barcelona, Sitges, the Balearics and – of course – many parts of the Costa del Sol.

According to the Lucas Fox statistics, sales in the premium property bracket were 70% higher in Madrid at the end of the three quarters up to September 30 against the same period last year. For Barcelona, that growth was 38%, while Sitges recorded more than 100% growth.

Most interestingly it was foreign buyers driving this recovery. Out of that 65% figure, British and French buyers accounted for 18% of the market each, with American and Canadian buyers increasing their share to 8% each.

Lucas Fox says that 31% of its customers operating at this top end of the market bought a prime property as a second home, with 30% purchasing for investment purposes and 26% intent on living in the property as their primary residence.

More generally, foreign demand for Spanish property is growing, with data from the Association of Spanish Registrars revealing an 11.6% increase in property sales to non-Spaniards in the first nine months of the year compared to the same period in 2016. Foreign buyers now account for 13% of the market, the data showed.

INE data also published this week revealed a 9.2% increase in the number of mortgages granted in September this year compared to last year.