Spain sees 47% and 55% increase in home sales and prices respectively, data shows

The data showed that 32% of buyers are entering the Spanish property market to snap up an investment or second home.

A new report collating sales and home value data in Spain has found that, for the first six months of this year home sales were 47% higher than the same period in 2016, while the home value of recorded sales was 55% higher…

The data comes from global real estate firm Lucas Fox, which tends to operate in the higher end market. Hence, the average property price sold from its portfolio over the past six months was €750,000 – which, while way above the Spanish average, does offer a telling insight into the rude health of Spain’s real estate sector.

Home values across all price brackets have increased steadily all over Spain in 2017, although the 55% increase recorded at the top end is considerably higher than the rises recorded elsewhere.

The number of homes sold by Lucas Fox is also a positive reflection of the wider national trend, with Spain registering more and more transactions for over 15 months straight.

The data also looked at where the buyers were coming from. British buyers were 10% lower than last year – a contraction that can probably be traced to Brexit’s impact on the value of the pound against the euro.

Meanwhile, US and Canadian buyers accounted for 10% of all purchases of Spanish property, Lucas Fox said, while 32% of all Spanish properties sold were bought as an investment or second home. Properties snapped up as a primary residence accounted for 23% of the overall total.

“Spain’s economy is the fastest growing in the Eurozone, bringing greater confidence back to the property market,” said Lucas Fox co-founder Alexander Vaughan. “We have seen growing interest from property investors, who now regard Spanish real estate as offering excellent potential for capital gains and profitability through short- and long-term rentals. We expect that the price recovery now taking place in the cities will extend to the suburbs and other parts of the country in the forthcoming months.”

The agents also said that they had recorded a 150% increase in Marbella property sales, with Scandinavian buyers accounting for 80% of that increase.