Brits in the south, and Yanks up north: where are foreigners purchasing property in Spain? CSN News

The English buy in the south and Germans in the islands. Americans and French in the north. Spanish estate agents have said this.

We are driving the boom in the property market.

The English find the country the most attractive for investment. They are most prevalent in the South of the Peninsula, and to a lesser degree, in the Islands.
The Spanish media agree.

Most foreigners do not seem to buy in Spain to live, but to invest and have a place where they can relax and enjoy the sunshine.

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The Germans are the most likely to do this, as they tend to concentrate on the Canary Islands and Balearic Islands. Meanwhile, the French, who prefer to be closer to the border, account for the majority of transactions north of the Peninsula.

According to the Notarial Statistical Information Centre, nearly one out of five homes sold in Spain by 2024 were purchased by a non-Spaniard.

In the last year, there were 140,000 non-Spaniards who bought homes. This is 6% higher than in 2023.

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After a relatively static first half, the second half saw an increase of 10% in transactions. This coincided with the market recovery resulting from the European Central Bank’s rate cuts.

Foreign buyers accounted for 69,690 transactions between July and December. Two out of five foreign buyers resided outside Spain.

Nationality preferences are apparent among these non-resident investors when choosing where they want to buy a home.

Germans have a strong preference for archipelagos.

The Canary Islands, as well the Balearic Islands, are the largest buyers.

The English accounted for a smaller percentage of the purchases in both regions in the second half (2024).

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In the middle of the peninsula the investor’s origin is more dominant.

The Chinese and Americans dominate non-resident purchases in Madrid, with 18% of transactions and 10%, respectively.

This is the only area where Asian investors have a majority. Their purchases are minor compared with those made by Chinese residents living in Spain.

Further north, the French enter the scene, being the main buyers in Castile and León, Cantabria, Navarre, Aragon, and Catalunya and the second largest in the Basque Country, accounting for between 20% and 33% of transactions.

The border has a noticeable influence on the western part, with the Portuguese as the most important non-resident foreign purchasers in Extremadura. Galicia is the second largest, accounting for 11% and 44% respectively.

The Americans are also a dominant force in the north of the peninsula. They have the most influence in Galicia and Asturias.

These North American buyers are among the most expensive.
Only Venezuelans & Colombians surpass them.

Foreign investors who live outside Spain tend to pay higher prices.

In the second half of 2024, the average price was €3,063 per square metre, 12.8% more than the previous year, while foreign buyers settled in the country paid an average of €1,795 per square metre.

Non-residents buy the most expensive homes.

Among this second group, foreigners who live here, Moroccans and Romanians stand out—they purchased 4,962 and 3,944 homes, respectively, in the second half of the year, representing 12.3% and 9.7% of the total.

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It is not surprising that, according to the INE’s (National Institute of Statistics and Census) data, they make up approximately 14% and 9% of Spain’s immigrant population, respectively. These are the most common foreign nationalities.

These groups dominate foreign resident populations in all regions, except for Galicia and Madrid.

The majority of the population in the capital is Chinese, followed by Venezuelans and Portuguese.

Between 26% and 10% of their purchases are made in Catalonia, the Canary Islands, and the Balearic Islands.

The English are once again a strong presence in the southern peninsula.

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