Home sales by foreigners break records in 2022. According to the latest report from the Registrars, they staged 69,794 sales. This represents 13.8% of the total, the highest figure in the entire historical series, and confirms the growing interest of foreign demand in the Spanish real estate market.
“Foreign buyers, in general, are less affected by the rise in the Euribor. Many of them pay in cash, or they contribute much more money to enter the mortgage. This is without mentioning that their profiles tend to be more solvent”, they point out from the real estate comparator HelpMyCash.com. But who are the foreigners who buy in Spain? What types of properties are they looking for? What can an owner do to sell you their apartment?
The majority of foreign buyers come from the United Kingdom and are looking for homes in Andalusia, Murcia and the Valencian Community —with a great preference for Alicante. The Germans represent another large percentage of the demand and are looking for apartments in the Balearic and Canary Islands, while buyers of Chinese origin prefer Barcelona and the Portuguese, Galicia.
The Registrars' report also shows that 10% of purchases by foreigners required a disbursement of more than half a million euros. In the words of HelpMyCash experts, foreign buyers pay more per square meter than nationals, which is why they are an attractive audience for home sellers.
During the first semester of 2021, a foreign buyer paid an average of 2,062 euros per square meter; while a national paid 1,560 euros, according to the latest study by notaries.
Foreign buyers usually look for vacation homes and prioritize good weather and air connections with their country of origin. It is no coincidence that the largest number of sales took place in the Balearic Islands, with 34.4% of the operations. They are followed by the Canary Islands (28.6%), Valencia (26.8%) and Murcia (19.1%).
“In general, foreign buyers look for homes between 80 and 100 square meters and prioritize their location and light. They undoubtedly prefer the coastal areas”, the HelpMyCash experts explain.
The easiest way to reach a foreign buyer is by contacting a specialized real estate agency. “There are agencies that came to the Spanish market as personal shoppers for foreign buyers. This allowed them to create their client portfolio and now they are also dedicated to selling flats. Contacting them is a fairly safe bet to sell the house to foreigners”, they affirm from HelpMyCash.
They also recommend using a series of marketing strategies, such as including 360 videos or virtual tours of the home so that buyers can see it in detail without having to travel. Offering a digital signature of the deposit contract or publishing the ad on real estate portals for foreigners is also useful in these cases.
