- Brits remain big spenders in property purchases in Spain, in the wake of Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic.
- Brits’ favourite destinations to purchase properties in Spain are in the South Costa Blanca.
The property programme is booming across Alicante, including in Los Montesinos, Benijofar, Quesada, and along the Murcia region of Spain, mirroring construction sites across the country.
Brits were the biggest group of foreign buyers of holiday-homes in three regions, and in the top-two groups in seven regions, underlined with being the highest number of purchases in the Valencian Region, and top two in five other regions.
British house purchases accounted for 43% of sales, with Brexit having had little impact – despite the 90 days per 180 day rule being clamped down on since departing the EU.
The Spanish Golden Visa has seen demand increase for properties, priced at €500,000 and over, with residential status automatically included.
2,603 Spanish home sales by Brits were recorded in the first quarter of the year, according to the latest figures from the Spanish Land Registrars’ Association.
Brits sales increased, up 72% compared to 2021, and 20% prior to the Covid-19 pandemic year of 2019, data mirroring a previous post-referendum high of 2,613 sales in Q3 2018.
In Q1 the British market was the single biggest source of foreign buyers, despite having decreased to 12%.
Amid the UK leaving the Eurozone in 2020, the strength of British demand with the Pound to Euro exchange rate, being at €1.20/£1 in April and May, consolidated Brits house purchases in Spain.
The €/£ exchange rate has remained relatively stable, in the wake of some forecasters predicting otherwise, post Brexit.
The Spanish Notaries’ Association data on foreign demand for property for sale in Spain (half-yearly), including data on the residency status of buyers – expat and non-resident figures of 2021 showed a strong recovery, with Brit expats recording 2,903 purchases.
British buyers splashed out an average of 1,887€/m2 on property in Spain.
Caption: Property sales in Los Montesinos booming. Photos: Andrew Atkinson.
