Found guilty of rising housing prices in this country: non-resident foreigners Business

Foreigners – both residents and non-residents – in 2023. accounted for 19.3 percent. of all purchase and sale transactions, and their number in the country reached 125 thousand. However, precisely in 2022 an all-time record was recorded – foreigners bought 134 thousand in Spain. housing.

A report by Pablo Hernández de Cos, governor of the Bank of Spain, indicates that these buyers are paying far more than locals. More precisely, 62.5 percent. more than the average natives of the country pay.

Therefore, it is explained that in 2023 in the first half of the year, foreigners bought housing for an average of 2,600 euros per square meter, while residents paid an average of 1,600 euros per square meter.

The warning from the financial watchdog is a daily reality in markets like Madrid. Andrea and Javier, a couple in their forties, have spent the past three months hunting for real estate worth more than half a million euros in central Madrid. They have the necessary financing, but in addition to the low supply, they note, there is another problem – that their main competition for properties of this quality is foreign buyers.

“The first property for which we made a firm offer ended up in the hands of an American investor,” says the Spanish couple. “The other two apartments we were interested in ended up being bought by a Brit who also wanted to invest, and another by a pianist from New York.” In both cases, they made better offers than ours.”

Record prices

According to a report by the Bank of Spain, the greatest pressure is exerted by foreign buyers in tourist areas, where the majority of their transactions are recorded.

Specifically, in the buying and selling market, “the highest number of acquisitions by non-residents is observed in the Balearic Islands, the Community of Valencia and the Canary Islands, where in 2023 will make up 20-25 percent. of all sales transactions,” the report details.

Statistics from the General Council of Notaries also confirm that the Spanish real estate market is of interest to non-resident foreigners, who pay more than average for the property they buy. in 2023 at the end of the year, housing prices in the country reached a record level.

The Chinese invest the most money – 3902 eur/sq. m. They are the biggest beneficiaries of the golden visa, which the government intends to abolish. This golden visa allows foreigners who are not EU citizens to obtain a residence permit in Spain in exchange for 500,000 euros. investment in real estate of EUR or more. The Chinese are followed by Colombians (3,734 euros/sq.m.), Venezuelans (3,608 euros/sq.m.) and Ecuadorians (3,608 euros/sq.m.).

Buyers from the United States of America, Russia, Switzerland, Sweden, Argentina and Germany also exceed €3,000/sq.m. m barrier. On the other hand, buyers from Bulgaria and Romania seem to be the most modest, not exceeding 2,000 euros per square meter. m, and buyers from Ireland, Portugal, Belgium and France – about 2,500 euros per sq.m. m.