Rental demand from foreigners reached record levels
Portal Idealista published the results of the Spanish real estate market for 2022. According to the report, at the end of the period increased demand for housing in the country by foreigners, their share in the sector amounted to 14.9%, which is a record since 2019.
In December 2022, the demand for Spanish rentals by foreigners exceeded requests in the purchase sector by 0.4%. This dynamic suggests that residents of other countries have shifted their attention from buying property in Spain to renting it.
In 2019, the most requested apartments and houses for rent were among the citizens of Great Britain. Now the situation has changed, and the demand is formed primarily by the Germans and the French. The British in terms of the number of requests have shifted to the 3rd place, followed by residents of the United States and the Netherlands. In recent years, Italy held the 4th position in demand for rentals in Spain, but at the end of 2022 moved to 6th place.
Increased interest in renting local properties among citizens of Canada, Poland, and Norway. Decreased demand from residents of Colombia and Venezuela. Decreased demand from the Dominican Republic and Morocco.
In terms of location, foreigners choose to rent homes in the same regions where they most often purchased. They are interested in tourist centers and coastal areas. In some Spanish provinces near the sea, the demand for rentals by non-residents increased by more than 20%, while in the central and some northern regions of the country, the figure does not exceed 5%.
Alicante is the most popular region for foreigners. It is the only one in the country where 30% of the demand for rentals is from citizens of other countries. In second place is Santa Cruz de Tenerife, where the percentage of foreigners in this sector is 29.6%. Next are the Balearic Islands, where the demand for rentals by non-residents is almost 28%, in Malaga, their share was 26.9%, and 24% in Las Palmas. These provinces are the only ones in Spain where requests to rent real estate by foreigners occupy more than 20% of all applications.
In Almeria, Barcelona, and Valencia, the share of such demand is 19% of the total, and in Girona – just over 17%. In regions such as Granada, Castellón, and Cadiz, the number of requests exceeds 14%. Among the main regions, the lowest demand is in Madrid – 10.4%, in other regions of the country the foreign demand for rent is less than 10%.