ARCHIVED - Over 28 per cent of homes sold in Murcia are bought by non-Spaniards

The British account for 53 per cent of non-resident purchasers in the Costa Cálida

A statistical study which has been published this week by the notaries of Spain finds that the number of homes bought by non-Spaniards fell in the first half of 2019 for the first time in 8 years, with a decreases in purchases by UK nationals as the Brexit uncertainty continued being one of the most important contributing factors.

In the whole of the country a total of 51,720 residential properties were acquired by non-Spaniards, 3.2 per cent fewer than in the first half of 2018, British nationals accounting for 6,681 of them (or 12.9 per cent). This is a larger share than any other nationality, the nearest rivals being Morocco (8.6 per cent), France (8 per cent), Germany (7.2 per cent) and Italy (6.5 per cent).

However, the total for UK nationals was also 12.3 per cent lower than twelve months previously, with the decline accounted for entirely by a sharp fall in the number of homes bought by those not already resident in this country – sales to resident Britons remained steady.

It is also noticeable that there were very sharp falls in the numbers related to purchasers from Norway, Sweden and Denmark, while significant increases included those for the USA, Morocco and Argentina.

Looking at the regional data, though, it appears that the Costa Cálida has not been affected by this slump. The nationwide decrease is due mainly to falls in Madrid and important coastal regions, with the numbers falling by 20 per cent in the Canaries, 13 per cent in the Balearics, 5.7 per cent in Andalucía and 4.6 per cent in the Comunidad Valenciana, but in Murcia the figure rose by a healthy 9.6 per cent to 2,677. Unfortunately the notaries’ published data do not make it possible to break this figure down by nationality, but among non-resident foreign purchasers 53 per cent were UK nationals (the next most numerous nationality being the Belgians with 15 per cent).

In addition, the figures show that while in the whole of Spain foreign buyers accounted for 18.6 per cent of all purchases, in Murcia the equivalent proportion was 28.5 per cent: this means that the Costa Cálida still gives the regional property market the fourth highest level of dependence on non-Spanish purchasers, but with sales to non-Spaniards falling in other regions the gap closed on the three leaders (the Comunidad Valenciana with 36 per cent, the Canaries with 35.3 per cent and the Balearics with 34.3 per cent).

To sum up, the data underline the extent to which activity in the Spanish real estate market Is buoyed by buyers from abroad, be they resident or non-resident, and also the danger which Brexit represents to that activity. The last time purchases by Britons slumped coincided with the referendum in 2016, and the figures soon recovered: this time, developments will be anxiously awaited by professionals within the sector in the regions which are most popular with UK nationals.

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