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PROPERTY SEARCH

Date Published: 30/08/2023

Foreigners snap up almost half of property for sale in Alicante

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Alicante province is now the third most in-demand area of Spain for home buyers

Foreigners snap up almost half of property for sale in Alicante

Thanks to its generous variety of pristine beaches, cosmopolitan cities and well-placed airport and train stations, Alicante province has become a real power house in the property market in recent years. And that trend has become even clearer in the second quarter of 2023, with Alicante ranked as the third most in-demand area in Spain for home buyers, surpassed only by Madrid and Barcelona.

Throughout the months of April, May and June, some 12,622 properties were bought and sold, with foreigners accounting for a staggering 44.67% of all purchases in Alicante. This places the province at the forefront of the foreign market at a national level.

Overall, sales have grown by 16% in the last year but the real estate market is showing definite signs of slowing down as the price per square metre increases, jumping up by 100 euros in the last quarter due to the high demand. In fact, home purchases fell by 2.8% between the first and second quarters, due in large part to rising interest rates, but this is still well below the national average of 5.6%.

However, the general secretary of the Association of Real Estate Developers of the Province of Alicante, Jesualdo Ros, has downplayed this fall, which he describes as normal: “We come from two spectacular years, to the point that we find that there is no technical stock due to excess demand. So it is normal and even positive that the market is redirecting itself, because it did not make sense for it to continue like this”.

In terms of foreign interest, Alicante is streets ahead compared to everywhere else in Spain. Santa Cruz de Tenerife comes in at a distant second, with non-nationals snapping up 38.01% of the properties for sale, followed by Malaga with 32.02%.

Interestingly, while British buyers mostly opt for second-hand homes, the Belgians, Dutch and Germans tend to go for new builds, but the lack of stock Mr Ros referred to is pushing up the price of new homes in Alicante province, which is now the fourteenth most expensive area in Spain for off-plans property.

According to the expert, new builds are currently going for an average of 2,181 euros per square metre, a 6.1% increase compared to the first quarter of 2023, while second-hand homes have risen by just 1.5% to 1,541 euros per square metre.

In other news: Second day of travel chaos at Alicante airport due to UK fault

Image: Freepik

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