According to the report “Análisis demanda y costas 2021” by the company “Sonneil Homes”, home sales to foreigners in Spain grew by 29% in 2021 compared with the previous year. The leader on this measure is the province of Alicante, where 12,400 sales involving foreign investors were completed, 16% more than in 2020.
In total, foreign nationals who bought residential property in Spain in 2021 accounted for 10.8% of sales. This is less than in 2018, when sales reached the pre-crisis levels of 2007. Even so, the emerging recovery of the Spanish property market suggests that foreign demand for homes in Spain will grow in the foreseeable future.
In 2021, citizens of other countries bought 34% of all apartments and houses sold in the province of Alicante, followed by Málaga (33%) and the Balearic Islands (27.4%). The most active buyers in the market were the Dutch and the Germans, who bought 48% and 59% more homes respectively than in 2020. The British, however, remain the main investors, with almost 11% of all sales, although this is far less than in 2008 (38%). The main reasons given for such a sharp fall in their market share are Brexit, the economic crisis, the weaker pound sterling and the travel restrictions in force during the Covid-19 pandemic.
