Foreign Property Transactions Down 16%

March 12th, 2008

The latest figures from the Spanish Ministry of Housing contain good and bad news about how many homes were purchased by foreigners during the second quarter of 2007.

Comparing Q2 2006 to Q2 2007 we see the following:

1. Overall number of property transactions fell by 16% from 28,702 to 24,222
2. Andalucia region had a very strong Q2 in 2007 – up by 23% from 3,253 to 4,359. New build completions in Andalucia were up by 60% and resales up by 23%
3. The strongest performer in Andalucia region was Cadiz province with new build completions up 185% from 41 to 117. Sevilla province came a close second with new build growth of 153% from 17 to 43 – seemingly at the expense of resale growth – up just 1%.
4. Malaga and the Costa del Sol was far from disastrous, up 61% overall from 1,402 completions to 2,262 and a strong showing for both new build and resale properties.
5. The islands had a respectable performance. The Balearics improved by 17% overall and the Canaries by 43% – thanks to resale property performing well.
6. Valencia region experienced 7% fewer property completions – down from 7,409 to 6,969. Alicante province experienced poor new build performance, down by 16% from 4,975 to 4,794. Resale completions increased by 6% from 2,715 to 2,878 giving Alicante an overall drop in completions of 4%.
7. Valencia province experienced the reverse split between new-build and resale completions. New build completions increased by 23% and resales decreased by 12% – producing an overall drop in volume of 9% in the province.
8. Normally significant contributors to the number of property transactions, Catalunya region dropped by 39%, Madrid by 57% and Murcia by 24%.

Even though these figures are now almost 9 months old, it’s the first time that this data has been made available to the public. It confirms the scope of the downturn in the number of property purchases by foreigners in Spain.

What’s surprising is how well the region of Andalucia performed and, in particular, the strong performance of Malaga and the Costa del Sol.

Download the full set of MVIV data

Related posts:

1. Malaga and Murcia (but not Alicante)

Tags

• ministry of housing  property transactions  resale property  spain