News: Prices on the rise as foreign buyers take record market share

The data for the final quarter of 2015 was released this week by the Spanish Registrars allowing us to analyse the year as a whole. The statistics show a strong increase in prices and upward movement for sales both nationally and in the foreign buyers segment.

Prices

Prices were up 6.6% in 2015 which the Registrars say confirms the positive trend which had began to develop in 2014. Their forecast for 2016 is a more measured rise of around 5% which will bring an end to the extreme increases and decreases of recent years and signals a more stable and healthy future for Spain's property sector.

This steadiness was already apparent in the data for the fourth quarter of 2015 which showed a minor increase of 0.94% on the previous quarter. The Registrars believe that investors will be calmed by an end to the fluctuations in prices and will be more inclined to buy in Spain thanks to the stable panorama which is forecast.

Foreign purchases

The percentage share of the market represented by foreign buyers rose to an all time high in Q4 2015 at 14.38%. This meant that of the 84,301 purchases made last quarter 12,084 were made by buyers from abroad which again highlights the importance of the foreign market to the Spanish property sector.