UK nationals bought around 2,300 homes in Spain during the third quarter

Registrars report 6.8 per cent year-on-year increase in Spanish property prices

The property transactions summary for the third quarter of 2017 which was published by the country’s registrars on Tuesday reports an overall average year-on-year price increase of 6.8 per cent, continuing the steady rise which has been observed over the last two years, and the figures suggest that if anything the rate of increase may even be quickening following a 2 per cent rise during the period from 1^st July to 30^th September alone.

At the same time the registrars report a total of over 119,000 transactions, 15.6 per cent more than in the third quarter of 2016 and the highest quarterly total for six years: there have now been 445,725 residential property sales registered in the last twelve months, also the highest total since 2011.

Equally encouraging is the fact that the number of new properties being bought and sold is also increasing, after a long period in which second-hand homes strengthened their domination of the market. Although during the third quarter new homes accounted for only 17.5 per cent of all sales, the figure of 20,885 was 4.1 per cent higher than in the second quarter and 18.8% up on the equivalent period last year.

Another of the stand-out figures in the quarterly report is that the number of properties acquired by non-Spaniards in this country during the quarter was approximately 15,300, or 12.9 per cent of all those sold. This is a slightly smaller proportion than in previous quarters, but the figure of 13.1 per cent for the first nine months of 2017 is similar to that of 2016.

As has been customary, the most important source of foreign property buyers in Spain was once again the UK, accounting for 14.8 per cent of the quarterly total: in other words, approximately 2,300 Spanish homes were sold to UK nationals during the three months, an average of around 25 per day. Next in the rankings were the French (8.5 per cent), the Germans (7.8 per cent), the Swedes (5.9 per cent), the Belgians (5.7 per cent) and the Italians and Rumanians (each 5.6 per cent). These seven nationalities accounted for over half of all sales to non-Spaniards.

To view a wide range of properties for sale across Spain consult the Spanish property page.

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