Brits still top international property spenders in Spain despite Brexit

A new report, published by leading international property portal Kyero, has revealed that British buyers remain the biggest overseas spenders when it comes to buying property in Spain - despite a 17% fall in enquiries from British buyers last year.

In an analysis of one of the largest data sets in the industry (consisting of buyers from 194 countries and 154,460 properties for sale with over 3,000 estate agents) it was found that the British, who have long played a significant role in the Spanish property market, have (just) managed to cling on to their number one spot. This is despite losing significant ground to German and Dutch buyers since Brexit.

Overall, the number of international property buyers in Spain increased by 80% in 2022 compared to 2019. 

British buyers continued to make up the largest proportion of overseas property spending in the country in 2022 (12.54% of the total market value). However, compared to 2019 pre-Brexit figures, the increase in their spending is one of the smallest of all nationalities. 

The German buyer market is a very close second, constituting 12.43% of the total market value, and follows a significant (211%) increase in the number of German buyers since 2019. 

*GMV = Gross Market Value

Martin Dell, Co-founder of Kyero comments: “Whilst Brexit does appear to have suppressed enquiries from the UK, British interest in Spanish property remains high and there is still a large number of British people already in Spain looking to move, or perhaps looking to buy a holiday home in the country.

“At the same time, we’re seeing a significant growth in interest in Spanish property from other nationalities, particularly German and Dutch buyers, and it’s likely that German buyers will overtake the British to become the highest spenders in the coming year, particularly as German budgets tend to be higher.”

In 2022, the average property price for German enquiries was €218,000 – the highest of all nationalities – compared to €165,000 for English enquiries. Meanwhile Dutch buyer enquiries related to an average asking price of €177,000; Danish, €190,000 and Norwegian, €189,000.