One third of homes in the Canary Islands are bought by foreigners

More than a third of the homes sold in the Balearic and Canary archipelagos and in the Valencian Community are bought by foreign citizens, according to a study by the Notaries' Statistical Information Center on the typology of buyers in the Spanish real estate market.

The analysis reveals significant differences by autonomous communities in the participation of foreigners and Spaniards in the purchase of housing.

In the regions of the interior and north of Spain, such as Extremadura (97.0%), Galicia (96.4%) and Cantabria (96.2%), the majority of transactions were from national buyers, with a very low foreign participation, less than 5%.

On the contrary, in coastal and tourist areas, where there is historically a greater presence of international residents and tourists, the participation of foreign buyers is much higher.

Highlights include the Balearic Islands, where 38.3% of acquisitions were from foreign individuals; as well as the Canary Islands (36.4%) and the Valencian Community (33.1%).

Murcia also has a considerable participation of foreign buyers, with 26.6%; while in regions such as Catalonia (16.8%) and Andalusia (16.7%), although the majority of operations are still carried out by Spaniards, there is a notable proportion of foreigners.

Madrid, despite its status as a capital and an important economic center, the report says, has a balance closer to the average, with 9.5% of purchases attributed to foreigners, reflecting a more diversified market in terms of origin of buyers.

On the other hand, there are also significant territorial differences in the distribution of housing purchases by individuals or legal entities.

In this case, Asturias registers the highest percentage of national legal entities, with 99.1%; followed by Cantabria and the Basque Country, both with 98.1%, which, therefore, means that real estate transactions by foreign entities are minimal, with less than 2% of the total.

The autonomous communities with a higher percentage of foreign buyers are mainly located in tourist and coastal areas.

Highlights include the Canary Islands, where foreign legal entities represent 35.7%; the Balearic Islands with 24.7%; and the Valencian Community, with 20.7%.

In communities such as Andalusia (17.1%) and Murcia (13.2%), although the majority of purchases are still made by national legal entities, the foreign presence is considerably higher than in other inland areas; while Catalonia and Madrid, being key economic centers, also have a relevant participation of foreign entities, with 9.1% and 5.9%, respectively.

These figures reflect a strong interest from foreign entities in acquiring properties in areas of high tourist and investment appeal, according to the report by the General Council of Notaries, released this week.