Spanish Property Market 2023

When I update our Spanish Property Market reports at the start of a new year there is always the disadvantage of not having full year statistics to hand. For some issues, such as unemployment and tourism, they filter through in the first couple of months of the year but the key numbers for the overseas sector of the property market are slower to show up. When I wrote this report for 2022/23 I only had the figures for the 1st half of 2022 to hand but I said the way in which overseas purchasers continued buying property in Spain in 2021 allowed for a degree of optimism for the full year totals for 2022. My optimism was not misplaced. 

In the event, now we have some of the statistics for the whole of 2022 they are better than good, they are record-breaking all-time highs. In total, there were 143,629 foreign buyers in Spain in 2022. That’s 28.5% higher than in 2021, which itself was the previous all-time high, and 32% higher that in 2019, the last full year before the pandemic arrived.

I think there are several reasons for the increase. Firstly, there has been a surge of overseas buyers coming through since the removal of pandemic-related travel restrictions. For last year’s report I calculated about 30,000 overseas buyers went missing between March 2020 and December 202I. I think 2023 will show us if that surge has now washed through the market and if normal new demand has returned to pre-pandemic levels. I think it has. But I also think the post-pandemic period has brought changes to how people want to live their lives; working from home and working from abroad are examples. As a consequence, the overseas sector of the Spanish Property Market seems to be benefiting from these changes.

At the peak of the Spanish Property Market bubble which burst as a result of the 2008 global financial crash the highest market share attributed to overseas buyers was 8.9%. For several yeas prior to the crash Spain had constructed over 800,000 new units per year, more than the UK, France and Germany combined.  The market was fuelled by cheap credit and speculation and the bubble was always going to burst at some stage. The global meltdown just helped it on its way.  

Growth in the overseas sector got going again in 2012 and numbers have increased every year since. In contrast, the domestic market continued to shrink until 2014, by which time it was 60% smaller in transaction terms than at the peak. 

However, after 8 years of sustained growth, by the end of 2019 overseas buyer market share had more than doubled to 19% of the overall market. Indeed, it had been hovering around the 20% level for several years.  Furthermore, in terms of overseas buyer numbers this sector of the market was 77% bigger than at the pre-2008 peak. In contrast, the domestic market experienced a much slower recovery over the same period. When Covid-19 arrived Spain’s domestic property sector was still 40% smaller than it was a decade before.

So, whether you look at transaction numbers or market share it’s clear international buyers are an important part of the overall Spanish Property Market.  For the three years prior to the pandemic the number of overseas buyers had topped 100,000.  That barrier was broken in 2017 (100,116), the all-time record of 103,677 occurred in 2018 before falling back slightly in 2019 to 102,264.  However, the 2nd half of 2019 was the best 2nd half year on record with 50,534 foreign buyers so the overseas sector was looking good going into 2020.  And indeed, Q1 of 2020 was very active. Then the pandemic arrived.

Before starting to dig into the statistics and apply them to the property market and related issues it’s perhaps worth taking a look at why Spain is such a draw for so many overseas buyers.

After seeing the nationality breakdown for the 1st half of 2022 I predicted the British were unlikely to hold on to the 1st place they have occupied since the notaries started analysing the statistics in this format in 2007. Prior to that, we didn’t know other than that there were lots and lots of Brits compared with other nationalities. In fact, starting in the 1960s, the British made up about 80% of all foreign buyers in Spain until around the mid-1990s when other nationalities started to enter the market in greater numbers.  However, we didn’t have an official count until 2007.

In the 1st half of 2022 the British were leading the Germans but only just, a bare 336 ahead. But following a strong 2nd half the British were well ahead, registering 15,355 purchases during 2022, stretching their lead over the Germans who were on 14,089. The French were in 3rd place on 10,819.  These 3 nationalities make up 28% of all foreign buyers and the British figure gives them a 10.7% market share of the overseas market.

What I find remarkable about these statistics is just how much the German and French markets have expanded in the 16 years since the nationality count began in 2007. In that year there were just 1,003 German and 1,801 French  buyers in Spain while there were 19,881 British, 34.5% of all foreign buyers. And while it’s true that British numbers are lower in both transactions and market share terms than previously, the 2022 figure of 15,355 is still the 2nd highest since the 2007 peak. Only 2015, the last year before the Brexit referendum, registered a higher count, and then only just, at 15,959.

And it’s not just the numbers that make foreign buyers so important to the Spanish Property market. They spend more too. Typically, foreign buyers pay more per square metre than the average for domestic buyers. For example, the average spend by a foreign buyer in 2022 was €2,073 per m2, 33.5% higher than the domestic average of €1,553. 

So it’s encouraging that these latest statistics show this trend continued in 2022. In terms of overseas buyer spending power the overseas buyer hotspots saw increases in the average amount paid by foreigners per square metre. In the case of Andalucía it was up 6.5% to €2,139 pm2, the first time it has broken through the €2,000 barrier. The Balearics was up 6.8% to €3,918 pm2, Cataluña up 8.05% to €2,280 while in the Canaries there was a double digit increase of 11.3% to €2,220pm2, another location breaking the €2,000 pm2 barrier for the first time. 

By nationality, the biggest spenders were the Danish on an average €2,875 pm2, followed closely by buyers from the USA on €2,826 and Swedes on €2,799. Set against the average price per square metre paid by domestic buyers of €1,553 these figures highlight just how important overseas buyers are to the property market in Spain.

I think these statistics clearly demonstrate how much the Spanish Property Market needs a healthy overseas sector. However, they also show that overseas buyers have even more clout in just a few locations. 

I’ve already mentioned that foreign buyers accounted for 19% market share in 2022. However, when you look more closely at a the statistics for the locations that are right at the top of overseas buyers preferred destinations the national average is well-beaten. For example, in the Balearics foreign buyer share in the 2022 was 43%. Meanwhile in Málaga province, the biggest market for overseas buyers in Andalucía, foreigners accounted for 40% of the market during the year and on the Costa Blanca it was 36%.

The hotspots are so dominant that the 2022 statistics show that 85% of overseas buyers bought in just six regions; the Balearic and Canary Islands plus the Mediterranean coasts of Cataluña, the Comunidad Valenciana (the Costa Blanca), Murcia and Andalucía on the mainland.

A good example of this is Andalucía.  Not only is it Spain’s largest autonomous region it is one of the most varied. It has both Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts, a huge, mountainous interior and 5 of Spain’s most historic cities; Cádiz, Málaga, Seville, Granada and Córdoba. In addition, this one region accounts for 20% of all property transactions in Spain. So, in property terms it really has something for everyone but foreign sector activity is far from evenly spread. In reality it is actually concentrated in just a handful of locations.

Andalucía has eight provinces and it turns out that 30% of all transactions in the 2022 occurred in just one province, Málaga, which really means the Costa del Sol.  And when you drill down to the municipal level it gets even more unbalanced. Although there are 208 municipalities in Málaga province, just four (Málaga, Marbella, Estepona & Benahavís) accounted for 46.7% of all transactions in 2022. And of the 42,206 property transactions that occurred in Málaga province in 2022, 16,818 were by foreign buyers, that’s a 40% market share. 

The dominance of just one province is even more extreme in Cataluña with 63% of all 2022 purchases in the autonomous region occurring in just one province, Barcelona.  And looking at the Comunidad Valenciana, 73% of all foreign buyers in this region bought in just one province: Alicante. (Source: MITMA)

Pre-Covid, Spain’s tourism industry was continuing its seemingly unstoppable upward trajectory. 2019 finished with another all-time record of overseas visitors at 83.7m, making it once again the 2nd most-visited country in the world. Tourism contributed about 14.5% to Spain’s GDP in 2019 although in some regions it was much higher than the national average.  Inevitably, Mediterranean regions and the islands depend even more on a healthy tourism sector. For example, the 45% of GDP generated by tourism in the Balearics makes it the most dependent, and vulnerable, region, followed by the Canary Islands, Andalucía, Murcia, the Comunidad Valenciana and Cataluña.

There is a link between visitor numbers and the property market and that’s due to rental demand from the approximately 35% of Spain’s foreign visitors who do not stay in hotels. And, of course, property buyers in Spain have usually been tourists for years before they decide to purchase. So, it’s good to see that there’s been something of a rebound in overseas tourism numbers, not quite to pre-Covid levels, but getting there.

The final total for 2022 was 71.6m overseas visitors compared with 83.5m in 2019, the last full year before the pandemic, and about 16% lower than that record-breaking year. However, there were differences between regions. For example, the Balearics recovered almost to pre-pandemic levels, only 3.5% down on 2019 while Cataluña was 23.6% behind its 2019 figure. As ever, the British were by far the most numerous of Spain’s tourists in 2022, some 15.1m, about 19% lower than in 2019. However, in terms of tourist market share the British made up 21% of all tourists, the same as in 2019.

As a result of these visitor numbers, rental yields make letting a property in Spain an interesting option. And not just for the buy-to-let investor because although not all foreign owners are part-time landlords many are. They look for rental income to cover essential maintenance and running costs and taxes. Obviously they're a lot of variables but the best gross yields can be as high as 10% and sometimes even higher for a large, top quality detached house in a prime location. Apartments and townhouses near the beach can return 6% - 8% gross, assuming a luxury interior.  Typically, a quality property in a prime location will generate a higher yield in the short-term holiday market than the same property let long-term, in the region of 3% - 5% better.  

However, there are always exceptions to the rule and growing demand for long-term rentals at the top end of the market can produce a gross yield similar to the short term yield. One of The Property Finders clients is seeing a 2019 purchase generating a gross yield of 8% for a one-year let. Just as the highest activity levels are at the top end of the property market so it is in the rental sector. Properties priced at €10,000 - €20,000 and up per week had no trouble finding takers in 2022 and high season weeks were fully occupied.

For reasons I have never quite understood, foreign buyers are like moths to a flame if new-build is available, even when the location is inferior. The fact is there is very little raw building land available in the very best locations, it was built on years ago.  Consequently, it follows that much of the new-build activity is not in prime locations. In addition, plots and constructed square metres are being squeezed in comparison with resale product. 

I accept many buyers are not looking to make a huge profit in the short-term, they’ve made a life-style purchase. However, I’ve yet to meet one who is happy with the idea of a loss even before they’ve got the keys. The fact is that I have never seen such a discrepancy between new-build and resales prices as exists in the current market.

In contrast, lack of well-priced, top quality resale properties in prime locations. This sector is, of course, still the largest in the Spanish property market, and by quite a margin. The ratio is about 10:1 in favour of resales across the whole market, with some variability between regions. Given rising demand, there is often competition between buyers for a good property in the right location. In addition, whereas in 2019 I would have said buyers were more likely to walk away from a purchase than overpay lack of stock is ramping up the pressure on buyers to  compete.

Having said that, I do think some asking prices are excessive and a report from Tecnocasa, one of the big valuing companies in Spain, suggests resale asking prices are, on average, at least 20% above the eventual price achieved. In fact, in 2022, clients of The Property Finders bought a frontline golf course house, detached with five bedroom suites and lots of extras, with a 14% reduction from the original asking price. That had been way too much but an interim reduction brought it into the frame and we still got another 8% off.  

The notion that the Spanish property market would experience a post-pandemic meltdown, similar to the market crash of 2008, was well and truly put to sleep in 2022.  In contrast, it experienced a surge of interest and not just from long-established markets of British, Scandinavian and other European nationalities but from all over the world. In the most prime locations overseas demand is pushing market share way beyond the national average of 20%, to as much as 35% in the Balearics and 40% in Málaga province. The Spanish property market would certainly be in a very different place without overseas buyers.

From our experience during 2022, the property market is most active at the higher price levels and, as I write, does not seem to be unduly affected by global inflation, higher energy prices and interest rates. If anything, I would say there is a sense that Spain is seen as something of a safe haven for property investment at the present time. Interestingly, tourist boards and property developers in southern Spain recently started marketing campaigns focusing on the region as a warm winter location with the potential for lower energy costs. 

The domestic and overseas property markets in Spain have always been disconnected. This became even more evident during post-2008 recovery. The overseas sector was already growing  again while the domestic sector was still declining. The near-collapse of the Spanish banking system and consequent mortgage drought brought the domestic market to a virtual standstill. In contrast, overseas buyers were cash-rich and no bank was going to lend to them anyway. 

I think this disconnect will differentiate between the two sectors in 2023. Spanish buyers are more mortgage dependent and therefore, exposed to higher interest rates. Foreign buyers at the upper levels of the market rarely need a mortgage. It’s true that many opted for a fixed-rate, long term loan in recent years but not because they needed it. They were just such good deals and made financial sense. However, for the time being, the higher Euribor interest rate, around 3% at the end of 2022 in contrast to being negative since 2015, make them less attractive. In addition, Spanish banks are currently less keen on lending to borrowers whose earnings are not in Euros. 

And as to prices in 2023, I can’t remember being as uncertain about their direction. Half the time I can’t believe they will go on rising and the other half I can’t see them stopping while demand is so high with the supply side in deficit. According to a report from Spain’s Institute of Statistics (INE) in December  2022, prices were within 5% of the highs last seen just prior to the 2008 meltdown. The report was referring to national averages and not the overseas sector. In many of the prime locations where most foreigners buy, prices have long since topped pre-2008 levels, above all in the new build sector.

As I’ve already mentioned I consider new-build prices more vulnerable to downturn as the supply side has improved.  In contrast, lack of prime located quality properties in the resale sector is putting upward pressure on prices and I think that pressure may increase during 2023, at least in the 1st half of the year. My hope is that the higher prices being achieved in the resale market will tempt more sellers into the market in 2023, alleviating the supply-side deficit somewhat.

Nevertheless, if you buy at the right price in a prime location, Spanish property is still relatively affordable. There's potential for substantial capital growth in the medium term and excellent rental yield potential. The sun continues to shine and the quality of life is rated one of the best in the world.  And there’s no doubt in my mind that with the WFH and WFA options becoming a reality for many more people post-Covid, that home will be in Spain. 

^©Barbara Wood

I update this Spanish Property Market report throughout the year as new data becomes available.  You can also follow us on Twitter for the latest news as it happens.

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