Expats spend 20% more on homebuying in 2017

FOREIGN buyers spent 20% more on residential property in Spain last year than in 2016, according to the ministry of public works – showing that the country remains as popular as ever as a new destination for those wishing to emigrate and as a base for a holiday home.

Data by nationality are only available for the first nine months of 2017 so far, but these figures show that nearly €10.1 billion was spent on Spanish homes during that time by people born abroad.

The vast majority of this – nearly €9bn – went on pre-owned property, and this alone was higher than the entire spend for the same period in 2016, which was just over €8.4bn.

Second-hand residential property sales among migrants went up by 19.7% in that time, and sales of new builds to non-Spaniards rose by 19.8%.

The majority of transactions took place in the Comunidad Valenciana, where expats spent almost €2.2bn on homes, followed by Catalunya at €1.98bn and Andalucía at €1.97bn.

Alicante and Málaga were the provinces with the most money on residential property changing hands – the coasts of which are known as the Costa Blanca and Costa del Sol respectively.

Foreigners moving to, or already living in the province of Alicante parted with just over €1.82bn on buying homes, whilst those in the province of Málaga shelled out €1.57bn, the ministry confirms.