Laurence Dollimore
IF you’re still wondering whether buying in Spain is a sound investment, the latest figures should give you a clue.
In the second quarter of 2023, prices nationwide increased by 3.6% compared to the same period in 2022.
It followed a healthy 3.5% year-on-year boost during the first quarter of this year.
The latest statistics mean prices have been rising in Spain every quarter since 2014.
That’s almost 10 years of continuous and steady growth.
Driving the uptick has been the construction of new-build homes, which are popping up across the country but particularly on the Costa del Sol and Costa Blanca.
And if you bought a new-build home last year, you will have already seen a tidy increase in value, with the average price rising 7% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2023.
The investment opportunities have not been lost on foreign buyers, who only purchased 2.7% fewer homes in the first quarter of 2023 compared to 2022.
That is a strong sign of demand given the sharp interest rate rises this year and the worsening cost of living and inflation crises hitting Spain’s most important foreign buyer markets in the UK and Germany.
In particular, the number of purchases by foreigners fell by just 2.7% year-on-year in Q1 2023, compared to declines among Spanish buyers of minus 9% for second-home purchases and minus 12% for first-home purchases.
In addition, this strength in sales among foreigners follows the significant rebound of 2022, when they grew by 30.7% compared to 6.4% growth for home sales as a whole.
As a result, they now account for a much larger portion of total sales (19.5%, according to the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda), and this is partly down to the fact that foreign buyers are less dependent on credit when purchasing property.
