A Mixed Bag in Q3

Foreign buyers made up 14.9% of Spanish property sales in Q3 2024. While this total is in line with recent trends, the mix of buyer nationalities is changing. The UK, Germany, and France traditionally held the top spots, but France has dropped from 3rd to 6th place. Swedish buyers now represent half their 2022 percentage and have declined further since last quarter. Polish buyers have risen to 4th place, now buying at nearly the same rate as British buyers, who previously dominated the market.

In 2008 British buyers represented 38% of the foreign buyer market in Spain, as at the end of Q3 2024 this now sits at 8.5%.

In absolute terms, the highest number of properties purchased in Spain during the quarter was by the British (2,077), followed by the Germans (1,568), Moroccans (1,331), Poles (1,296), Italians (1,279), French (1,274), Romanians (1,250), and Dutch (1,226).

Here are the top 18 nationalities buying property in Spain in the period as a percentage of total sales to foreign buyers

1. United Kingdom: 8.5% (+0.15 vs previous quarter)
2. Germany: 6.4% (-0.55)
3. Morocco: 5.5% (-0.64)
𝟒. 𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝: 𝟓.𝟑% (+𝟎.𝟔𝟗)
5. Italy: 5.3% (+0.07)
6. France: 5.2% (+0.01)
7. Romania: 5.1% (-0.18)
8. Netherlands: 5.0% (-0.11)
9. Belgium: 4.8% (+0.18)
10. China: 3.6% (+0.57)
11. Ukraine: 3.2% (+0.14)
12- Russia: 2.5% (+0.07)
13. Sweden: 2.5% (-0.30) – halved as a percentage since 2022
14. Ireland: 1.8% (-0.07)
15. United States: 1.7% (-0.06)
16, Lithuania: 1.2% (+0.11)
17. Bulgaria: 1.1% (-0.08)
18. Hungary: 0.96%

💡 𝐦𝐲 𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 – A broader mix of buyer nationalities is helping keep the market stable by reducing risk. While we wait for British, German, and Swedish buyers to return in full numbers, other nationalities are stepping in to maintain steady market activity. Real estate agencies that focus on just one nationality are feeling more ups and downs compared to those working with buyers from different countries.

Where are they buying?

The top 8 provinces with the highest percentage of home purchases by foreigners in the third quarter were:

🔹 Alicante: 43.1%
🔹 Málaga: 34.8%
🔹 Santa Cruz de Tenerife: 32.7%
🔹 Balearic Islands: 32.5%
🔹 Girona: 27.1%
🔹 Murcia: 24.7%
🔹 Las Palmas: 22.4%
🔹 Almería: 17.7%.

Source land registry