The General Council of Notaries' report for property sales in the second half of 2017 points to there having been 49,553 transactions involving foreign buyers in Spain as a whole. This was an increase of just over fourteen per cent.
In the regions, the highest increases in relative terms were in Extremadura (up over 50%), Cantabria and Navarre. Below the 14.1% national increase were four of the main coastal regions of Spain, with the Balearics having been one of them. The rise in the Balearics was 5.3%, lower than Andalusia (12.8%) and the Canaries (8.7%) but above Catalonia (2.5%). In the case of Catalonia, the growth was in marked contrast to an increase of 19.8% in the first half of 2017.
Although the Balearics growth was relatively low, foreign buying still amounted to 40.5% of all transactions, the highest proportion in the country. Below the Balearics were the Canaries with 37.6%, Valencia (37%) and Murcia (28.4%). The lowest proportions were in Extremadura, Galicia and Castile and Leon, all below five per cent.
As for prices, the average per square metre paid by resident foreign buyers was 1,420 euros, an increase of 4.6% over the second half of 2016. Non-resident foreign purchasers were paying more - 2,027 euros, a rise of 8%.
By nationality, Moroccans registered the highest percentage increase - 35.6% - followed by Ecuadoreans and Portuguese. With the British, there was a rise of 7.8%, which represented a notable recovery. In the second half of 2016, i.e. after the Brexit referendum, there was a 23.6% slump. In the first half of 2017, there was a further decline, one of 16.1%.