The sale and purchase of housing by foreigners grows by 10.3% in the second half of 2024
source EjePrime
The notaries highlight that non-residents account for 41.9% of total foreign purchases, which represents an 8.2% increase compared to the 1.4% decrease in the first half. They represent 19.5% of the total operations.
External residential interest. The sale and purchase of unsubsidised housing by foreigners increased by 10.3% year-on-year, reaching 69,690 transactions in the second half of 2024, an advance that consolidates the recovery that began in the first half of the year, when sales by foreigners had already grown by 1.8% year-on-year. According to data from the General Council of Notaries, operations carried out by foreigners accounted for 19.5% of total sales, remaining below the average recorded in 2023 (21.1%).
In the second half of 2024, resident foreigners accounted for 58.1% of operations, up 11.8% year-on-year, while non-residents accounted for the remaining 41.9%, going from a fall of 1.4% in the previous semester to a growth of 8.2%.
By nationality, the group of foreigners who acquired the most homes was once again British nationals, with 8.7% of total transactions (6,048), followed by Moroccans (7.3%) and Germans (6.7%). The group of nationalities that includes the rest of foreign buyers from outside the European Union (EU) reached 12.2%, consolidating the upward trend observed in previous semesters, this time with an even higher volume.
The sale and purchase of free housing by foreigners increased in 16 autonomous communities
The sale and purchase of free housing by foreigners increased in sixteen autonomous communities and only fell in the Canary Islands, which registered a fall of 3.9% compared to the same half of the previous year. The largest year-on-year increases were recorded in Cantabria (+33.5%), Castilla y León (+28.7%), Asturias (+28.6%), Extremadura (+26.9%), Castilla-La Mancha (+23%), Galicia (+22.5%) and the Community of Madrid (+21.9%).
The average price per square metre of transactions carried out by foreign buyers in the second half of 2024 stood at €2,362 per square metre, 8.6% more than in the same period of 2023. Thus, non-resident foreigners continue to pay higher amounts for their homes (3,063 euros) than resident foreigners (1,795 euros) and nationals (1,713 euros).
In terms of rate of change, the average price paid by non-resident foreigners increased by 12.8% year-on-year; that of resident foreigners by 4.4%; while that of the national buyer rose by 8.4%. As for the average prices per square metre, the highest corresponded to buyers from the United States (3,390 euros), Sweden (3,295 euros) and Germany (3,224 euros).
The evolution of prices registered a positive advance in most of the autonomous regions, except in Asturias (-0.2%) and Navarra (-7.3%). Thus, the largest increases were recorded in Cantabria (+25.8%), the Balearic Islands (+16.6%), the Basque Country (+16.4%), Castilla la Mancha (+12.7%), Andalusia (+12.4%) and the Canary Islands (+11.3%).
