Which is the best place to buy in Spain?

Last updated on April 15th, 2020 at 11:37 am.

The latest statistical release from the Spanish Land Registry has one or two surprises in store. The ‘Estadística Registral Inmobiliaria’ presents a positive picture. What is clear is that overall, a higher percentage of houses are being sold to foreigners than ever before.

In 2006 8.97% of property bought in Spain was purchased by foreign buyers compared to 11.15% in 2013 and 13.11% in 2017. The lowest point was in 2009 when only 4.24% of purchases were down to foreigners. Since then, the market has gradually recovered to its present high. During 2017 the number of homes purchased in Spain was 464,223. Of this figure 60,860 were bought by foreigners.

Nationality of the purchasers

It’s not just the overall figure that’s interesting, however. Dig further into he detail and we can see other trends emerging. The breakdown of nationalities shows that in 2017, most purchases were made by people from the UK followed by a strong French and German market:

New property vs resale property

From the table below you can see that overall the majority of property bought by foreigners is resale. When all nationalities purchasing property in Spain are taken into account the total percentage of resales to new build is 82.23% to 17.77%. Most nationalities retain this kind of balance between the two. However, we can see that Belgium and Norway seem to favour new properties slightly more, whereas France, Italy, Germany and UK have more of an inclination towards resale.

Best place to buy in Spain

Nationalities do vary when it comes to picking where to buy in Spain. It’s difficult to say which is the best place to buy property in Spain, but what is true is that Valencia, Andalusia, The Canaries and Catalonia (all of them are coastal cities) are particularly popular overall with foreign buyers. Breaking this down even further by nationality we can see that there are definite regional preferences.

Our maps shows where different nationalities are preferring to purchase property in Spain, and the number of purchases they make.

Next step: finding a solicitor

Once you have selected your property you will find yourself dealing with a number of professionals who will help you during the buying process.

One professional you are going to deal with is the solicitor: it is very important that the legalities are completed by a competent solicitor. You should have your own representative who is looking after your interests when the contract is exchanged. Choose a solicitor who you can communicate with easily in your native language but who is also a specialist in Spanish property law.

Ábaco Advisers is a well-respected and independent firm of lawyers and legal advisers based in Torrevieja and Alicante. We specialise in Spanish property law and have been helping people to purchase property safely and easily in Spain since 1999. We offer you a free individual consultation with one of our legal and tax experts to answer all your queries regarding property purchase and management in Spain.