The drop in sales does not stop the appetite of foreigners to buy a house in Spain.

New official data confirms the drop in home sales during 2023. On this occasion, the Property Registrars closed last year with a decrease of 9.8% compared to 2022.

This represents 583,042 operations registered in Spain, the second best data from the Registry Statistics since 2007, and only surpassed by the extraordinary performance of 2022. Used housing transactions accounted for 81.4% of the total volume, with 474,658 sales and purchases, which represents a year-on-year decrease of 10.7%. For its part, 108,384 new home transactions were reached, with a reduction of 5.5%.

After the outstanding results achieved in 2022 then 2023 represents a slowdown process, although it places the home buying and selling market at levels similar to those reached in the years prior to the health crisis.

Over the next few quarters, this trend of slowing down the pace of home purchases and sales will predictably continue, but within levels that could be classified as normal, exceeding 10 sales per thousand inhabitants per year, having registered a result in 2023 of 12,03 the Registrars highlight.

The main factor with an unfavorable impact, such as the rise in interest rates, has concluded its upward path, with the evolution of economic activity and its impact on employment being especially relevant for the future behavior of sales, they specify.

The purchase of houses by foreigners represents close to 15% of the total
But the slowdown in operations and interest in buying a house in Spain has barely been noticed among the foreign population, whether resident or not. In fact, transactions by foreigners had a behavior very similar to that of 2022, after falling only 1.7% year-on-year, and sealing around 87,400 operations, with the data aggregated by quarters from the Registrars.

These calculations, prior to the Yearbook of Real Estate Registry Statistics that the Registrars will publish in the month of March, confirm the outstanding moment of foreign buyers in the Spanish residential market. The absolute transaction data represents the second best data in the historical series, only surpassed by 2022 (88,858). But the weight of these foreign purchases over the total volume of operations reached its maximum in 2023 with 15% of the total, improving this time in 2022.

These last two years have been much higher, both in the general count and in the percentage of operations compared to the pre-pandemic period, with about 20,000 more transactions and almost three points higher.

Valencian Community is confirmed as the region preferred by foreigners

In these calculations carried out by Autonomous Communities, the Valencian Community is the one that has carried out the most transactions in 2023, with nearly 28,000 home purchases by foreigners. This represents over 29% of the volume of operations in the entire CCAA, and more than three out of every 10 home purchases in Spain.

Behind the Com. Valencian, in terms of the total number of houses acquired by foreigners, Andalusia stands out, with just over 17,500 operations and Catalonia, with almost 15,000. Now with a little more distance, the Canary Islands appear, exceeding 7,000 transactions; The Balearic Islands and Murcia, both above 5,000, and Madrid, close to 4,500.

In these regions, the weight of purchases by foreigners has also been notable, as in Andalusia and Catalonia, both above 15%, but ahead of Murcia, with almost one in four transactions involving a foreigner. In Madrid, given the high total volume of transactions, with more than 70,000 in all of 2023, its weight is not so important, slightly above 6%.

However, where foreigners have greater importance in the domestic market is in the Balearic Islands, surpassing in this case the Valencian Community. In the Balearic archipelago, more than 30% of sales are carried out by a foreigner, whether resident or not. The Canary Islands would enter the trio of regions where these foreign transactions have the most weight.

According to calculations based on quarterly information from the Registrars, the weight of home purchases by foreigners has grown in all the Autonomous Communities, without preventing operations from falling, but demonstrating their interest in having a home in Spain.

English, German and French continue to be the leaders, but other nationalities are growing

Citizens from the United Kingdom, Germany and France continue to be the main foreign buyers of houses in Spain. The British carried out one in 10 transactions by foreigners, exceeding 8,000 purchases in 2023. Behind them, the Germans exceeded 6,000 transactions on national soil, exceeding 7% of the volume among purchases by foreigners. Meanwhile, the French are approaching these 6,000 sales, just under 7% of the total.

Behind them, Moroccans, Belgians, Italians, Romanians and Dutch acquired between 4,000 and 5,000 houses, respectively, with values between 4.5% and 5.5% of the total transactions among foreign citizens.

The permanence of Poles, Russians, Chinese and Ukrainians stands out, and a prominent position of North Americans, who this year may have broken their own record, with more than 1,300 operations in Spain.