Thanks to the
renewed interest of foreign investors, house prices in Spain are now
declining by only 4% annually, with foreign investment in real estate
logging the highest deals for nine years in 2013.
Figures from Bank of
Spain showed that the Spanish housing market saw a 16% rise in
foreign investment, earning USD $8.95 billion, which is the largest
amount seen since house prices started dropping by 40% in 2007.
The record-level
deals are primarily fueled by British nationals who accounted for
15.1% of total foreign residential property purchases, followed by
the French at 9.84%. Russians and Belgians have also injected
significant amount as they accounted for 8.56% and 7.26% of the total
deals, respectively.
According to Spain
Today, the interest of foreign buyers has been rekindled by price
adjustments in the Spanish real estate sector, which put assets at a
bargain price and eventually created opportunity in comparison with
other European countries.
The growing
confidence of foreign buyers is further cemented in Urban Land
Institute/PwC survey where it was revealed that 67% of the
respondents were more optimistic about investing in the country as
they see attractive buying opportunities.
The result has
prompted Marc Pritchard, sales and marketing manager at home-building
company Taylor Wimpey, to comment: “It is very encouraging to see
the experts such as the Urban Land Institute and PwC highlighting the
turnaround which Spain has undergone and the vast potential which
remains. We have been saying for some months now that the situation,
especially within the second homes market, is steadily improving.”
While direct foreign investment in real estate is reportedly increasing, there have been steady declines in offshore investments. Accordingly, the amount disbursed for properties outside of Spain hit a record –low at the end of 2013 with only USD $355 million. This was the lowest figure seen for over 12 years.
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