Foreigners continue to buy houses in Spain despite the corona pandemic

VALENCIA - Despite the corona pandemic, investor interest in the Spanish real estate market has continued, the number of foreigner home sales has increased, and foreigner demand for housing in Spain has remained stable.

According to project developers on the coast of the Valencia region, including the popular Costa Blanca, there is clearly still confidence in the market among foreign buyers. According to them, this is evident from the continuous demand for information among this group of buyers for property on the Spanish coasts.

The Association of Real Estate Developers in the province of Alicante (Provia) has released a report with an overview of data for the entire region of Valencia. Here, 78 percent of overnight stays by foreign tourists are said to be second homes. The report shows that not only have sales and reservation contracts been maintained, but interest in buying has also increased.

As a result, there appears to be no surplus of supply and it has not been necessary to adjust the prices. "The fact that the purchasing level from the markets in Germany and the Netherlands in particular has remained high has surprised us very much," said Provia general secretary Jesualdo Ros. There have been many customers who have authorized a lawyer in Spain from their home country to register their new homes or who have used digital platforms to continue or initiate the purchasing process. Interested parties could also visit the homes of their interest virtually.

'The interest in buying homes on the Costa Blanca has increased, while purchases have fallen in absolute numbers. Obviously, fewer homes have been sold than this time last year with 22,164 homes, but once conditions normalize, we will return to that level soon, "said Ros in El Mundo newspaper.

Real estate company Alibuing also has the same positive comments about the Valencia region and the continuing interest in property purchases. In the past weeks, 196 homes were sold from a project in Benidorm. In addition, 30 percent of the planned homes have already been put on the market during the state of emergency.

Broadly speaking, 60 percent or 5.7 billion euros of the total expenditure of foreign tourists on stays in the Valencia region goes to private accommodations. Buying contracts could be signed via legally supported online platforms, so buyers did not need to travel to Spain.

The impact of foreign tourism with a second home in Spain is 12 percent of GDP. According to El Mundo, the sector therefore has a large capacity to get the economy going again.

(SOURCE: Spain)