The British have lost their fear of Brexit and are buying back housing in Spain. After the EU's exit referendum in 2016, potential buyers postponed their decision to buy housing in Spain because of the fear of the devaluation of the Libra and political uncertainty. Sales plummeted (23.6% in the second half of 2016 and 16.1% in the first half of 2017). But now the one who has always been the main client of the Spanish real estate market has returned his eyes to it.
Purchases by the British grew by 7.8% during the second half of 2017, according to data published Monday by the General Council of Notaries. Despite the recovery in transactions, the Brexit has taken its toll. In 2015, the British accounted for almost 24% of home purchases by foreigners in Spain and now represent 14.3%. Even so, they remain the main buyers, followed by French (8.4%), Germans (8.1%) and Romanians (6.8%).
It also took its toll on the number of purchases by outsiders holding the illegal independence referendum on October 1 in Catalonia. It became the region where foreigners bought fewer houses during the second half of the year, the height of the crisis. Transactions barely grew 2.5%, which reflects the cooling from 19.8% registered during the first half of the year.
However, the lower Catalan advance did not prevent the purchase of homes in Spain by foreigners to grow again during the second half of 2017 and did so at a rate of 14.1% year-on-year and in all autonomous communities. The General Council of Notaries registered 49,553 transactions, 19.5% of total transactions in the second half of the year. Two thirds of the purchases were made by resident citizens and the remaining third were from outside the EU.