Non-Spaniards purchased just 513 coastal properties in the first three months of 2010, according to official figures released by Spain’s Ministry of Housing, which is a slight increase (6% to be exact) on the same period last year, when a mere 484 holiday homes were purchased by non-domiciled buyers.
This rate of sale, which is less than 200 a month nationwide, will do little to alleviate the widespread fears that Spain’s glut of housing will remain a problematic and costly burden for the country for many years to come. The implications in the short term are positive; sales of coastal properties have picked up as the market has bottomed out and the depths of the recession have been plunged already, but longer-term fears remain. Where will the confidence come from? Where will the credit come from? And, perhaps most pertinently, where will the buyers come from?
Although property sales to foreign residents in Spain for this first quarter was up 33% on last year (6,712 homes were bought by non-Spaniards), most of these properties were snapped up by economic migrants in the centres and suburbs of Spain’s largest cities; such input and investment will do little to clear through the oversupply of coastal properties waiting to be sold.
The picture is a little brighter when attentions are turned to the resale market, which is traditionally dominated by residential sales, ie, resale properties are largely bought by Spaniards. Sales of resale properties were up by 31% for the first quarter of the year, which is in stark contrast to new build properties, where the market collapsed by a massive 22%, according to the official figures released by the government.
Tags: Buying in Spain, Holiday Home Spain, Property in Spain, Spanish Coastal Property, Spanish property, Spanish Villa
