After seven years of desperately falling property prices in Spain, confidence has returned to foreign investors who are finally buying some prime real estate.
Foreign purchases in 2013 exceeded €6bn for the first time since 2004, according to the Bank of Spain.
Knight Frank reported that of the 55,000 residential sales last year, more than one-fifth was made by overseas purchasers. It also noted a 29% increase in its online searches at the beginning of this year compared to 2013.
The agency says that commercial property was also selling, especially in Madrid and Barcelona, and that buyers were coming from the US, France and Latin America.
Another property specialist, Spanish Property Insight, says it is not just individuals, but institutions, such as the likes of Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and investment group Blackstone.
They in particular are buying in bulk from Spain's “bad bank”, Sareb. It has some 200,000 property assets, both houses and developments, on its books and is said to be selling as many as 60 properties every day.
A report by Spain's society of property registrars says Britons are still buying more property than people from elsewhere. Brits account for 15% of all sales to overseas investors, but that is down from 34% in 2007. French (10%), Russians (9%) and Belgians (7%) follow.
According to Spanish estate specialists Lucas Fox International Properties, Barcelona is a top drawing card, with nearly half of purchases there for second homes. Many buyers plan to convert the properties into hotels or holiday flats. The agency says there has been a surge in interest from Russian, Chinese and Israeli buyers. Other agents report new interest from Scandinavians, as well as clients from the Middle East and parts of Africa.
Exclusive areas on the Costa del Sol, such as Marbella and Sotogrande, have seen purchases pick up also.
Estate agent Engel & Völkers Spain said in a recent report that its Mallorca office had "sold more properties at the top end than in any other year of our 12 years of operations in this area".
