Demand for Spanish property continues to increase, the latest market analysis from Lucas Fox has revealed.

The number of Lucas Fox sales rose by more than half across all its regions in the first three quarters of 2017, with Madrid driving this growth. Sales grew by 70% in the Spanish capital, while Barcelona saw growth of 38% despite the recent issues with the Catalan government. Valencia and Sitges also witnessed substantial growth, with sales rising by over 100% in the first nine months of this year compared to the same period in 2016.

The research, which strongly suggests that Spain’s prime market has bounced back in 2017, also revealed that 65% of buyers were foreign, with British and French buyers both accounting for 18% of sales each. There has also been a continued upward shift in sales to US and Canadian investors, with these two demographics now representing 8% of all Lucas Fox sales.

Broken down, 31% of buyers bought property as a second home, 30% purchased as an investment and 26% were seeking a primary residence.

Foreign demand for Spanish property is also on the rise, according to recent figures from the Association of Spanish Registrars. It rose by 11.6% in the third quarter of 2017 and now accounts for 12.9% of the Spanish housing market as a whole.

As well as its findings for the first three quarters of 2017, Lucas Fox also released its figures for October 2017. Promisingly, it seems as if the knock-on effect of the divisive Catalan referendum has so far had little bearing on the region’s property market. There was a rise in sales of 27% registered by Lucas Fox Barcelona in October 2017 compared to the same month last year, while levels of interest in Madrid and Valencia also increased significantly, up by 13% and 15% respectively.

“Our third quarter results make for extremely encouraging reading,” said Lucas Fox co-founder Alexander Vaughan. “In central Madrid and Barcelona city the property market is buoyant and we believe there will be further growth in pricing and the number of transactions the coming years. In Catalonia, following the events of 1st October we saw a temporary dip in the level of enquiries from national and international buyers but these have already recovered to 2016 levels.”

Furthermore, the average price of a prime property in Spain was revealed to have risen substantially – up from €709,111 in September 2016 to €802,000 in September 2017, a leap of 13% year on year.

These results follow on from the launch of Lucas Fox’s ‘Affiliate Programme’ earlier this month, with a plan to open Property Lounges in 50 more locations by 2020, tapping into the Basque Country and Spanish cities such as Malaga and  Seville which have previously been largely untapped by international buyers.