2023-08-16 08:45:13
Illustration of a person labeled as ‘Digital Nomad’. (photo: Caminito love)
Foreign buyers continue to boost the Spanish real estate market after two seasons of record numbers. Last year, international clients signed a total of 88,858 purchases of houses and apartments in national territory, which represents an increase of 45% compared to the data from the previous year. The figures for 2023 are once again optimistic, especially since 23,380 operations have been reached during the first quarter of the year, as pointed out by the College of Registrars.
The good weather and the wide tourist offer place the main Spanish cities as the preferred destination for many retirees, although pensioners are not the only ones looking to try their luck on the other side of the ocean.
Neither the recent rise in interest rates nor the rise in property prices have managed to stop, at least for the moment, the boom in foreign investment. In fact, a study by the moving company MoverDB.com indicates that Spanish properties are the most sought after on the entire planet. Buyers who have lost purchasing power as a result of generalized inflation hitting the main European economies have found in non-resident mortgages the perfect solution to stay in the market.
An American completes his teleworking day from Spain. (Borja Suárez / Reuters)
“It is common for non-residents to request a loan in Spain. Entities in the country of origin are not usually open to this type of operation,” says Dylan Leworthy, regional director of the Union of Real Estate Credits (UCI). Almost all Spanish banks offer products of this type, unless the interested client comes from a tax haven or from a country at war, where economic instability can undermine the interests of the financial company.
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The Union of Real Estate Credits (UCI) has published a report warning of the emergence of a new profile among foreign home buyers. The weight of British, German, French and Belgian customers continues to control the inclination of the balance, although the US public has gained strength in recent months. More and more workers, instead of waiting until their retirement, take advantage of teleworking to look for a house in a city with a beach, good weather and quality of life.
“After the pandemic we are seeing that many buyers of younger ages, since they can work remotely, do not delay their dream of spending long periods of time on the Spanish coasts,” says the manager. In the last year, more than 41.7 million people have teleworked in the countries of the European Union, according to data from the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofund). This body puts work-life balance, flexibility and autonomy on the table, three elements that, in his opinion, make remote work an increasingly normalized alternative.
Many times, workers cannot directly assume the disbursement that the purchase of a property implies, so that banks offer mortgages for non-residents among their products. These loans are mainly aimed at foreign citizens who have remained in national territory for less than 183 days, although they can also be requested by people with tax domicile outside of Spain. However, the maximum financing percentage does not usually exceed 70% of the value of the home. Interest in these mortgages has grown in recent months, especially because digital nomads, who have altered the profile of the real estate customer, have less financial solvency than traditional buyers.
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