Balearics lead foreign property investment in spain

Official figures from the Land Registry out this month show that in 2013 the Balearics had the highest number of property sales to foreign investors in Spain, as well as the highest number of sales over half a million euros. Local expert Balearics Sotheby's International Realty believes this proves the Islands' resilience.

Daniel Chavarria Waschke, Managing Director of Balearics Sotheby's International Realty, with offices in Mallorca and Ibiza, explains, “In 2013, some 30.73 per cent of house sales in the Balearics were attributed to foreigners, significantly higher than say Andalucia at 12.35% or Catalunya at 11.54%. Meanwhile, 14.34 per cent of those sales to overseas buyers were for properties over half a million euros. This compares to just 7.43 per cent in Andalucia and 6.57 per cent in Catalunya. The other regions like to talk-up their markets, but the Balearics is the only one that can prove that a melting pot of nationalities has kept the property market busy and buoyant. It's a pleasure to be conducting business here.”

British, Russian, Swiss, Scandinavian and, to a lesser extent, Germans, were the main nationalities represented in the Balearic property market in 2013. In fact 83.4 per cent of foreign purchases came from those within the EU, with the remaining 16.52 per cent coming from non-EU countries, with Russia in the lead.