A change in the direction in which foreigners purchase and sell properties. Although foreign EU nationalities began to gain momentum at the beginning of the year, with Moroccans, Romanians and Chinese at the forefront, the Europeans are now gaining weight once again on Spain's real estate market. Property finder
According to data from registrars, the British, French, Germans and Belgians were the main foreign purchasers of properties in Spain during the third quarter of 2019. In contrast, the Moroccans were fourth-largest nationality at the start of the year, while the Belgians were sixth (behind Romanians).
The British and French are gaining momentum except for the Germans who continue to lose ground. For UK buyers, the most remarkable thing is that they have left the historic low in the second quarter with 13.3% of foreign sales. Their current weight has increased to 14,27%, which is a record year, although still far from nearly 38% in 2008.
On the other hand, the French account for 8.38 per cent of foreign transactions, up from 2017. On the other hand, the Belgians again account for 6 percent of all transactions, as is usual since the financial crisis hit the ground. In the Italian case, the market share remains stable at approximately 5% (at 5.03% in the third quarter), in line with the last three years.
On the other hand, Germany is in a different situation. The European locomotive was 6.6% in the summer, the lowest figure since 2008. However, it is the third most prominent nationality for foreigners in Spain to buy and sell property.
Romania is the other European country that is being lost after reaching historic highs: it accounted for 6.12% of operations at the beginning of the year, but at the end of September, it dropped to 5.83%. If this year ended, since 2006, where Romanian citizens represented 5.98 percent of the market, they would sign their second best year in terms of buying and selling properties.
China is another nationality that has gone beyond its record. While they accounted for 4.49 percent of purchases in the first quarter, they are now down to 3.57 percent. This is the lowest figure since 2013, the worst time of the Spanish immobilization and economic crisis.
The Moroccans are following a similar development. They were closer to pre-crisis peaks (over 7 percent in 2006) at the beginning of the year, while they lost ground in summer to remain at 6.05 percent. As a result, one place in the ranking has fallen in just half a year.