Moroccans Emerge as Top Foreign Investors in Spain’s Real Estate Market

Doha – Moroccans have become one of the leading foreign nationalities investing in the Spanish real estate market, according to data from the second quarter of 2024.

Online platform Merca2 reported that Moroccan buyers accounted for 6.1% of the total foreign sales, ranking second only to the Germans.

The surge in Moroccan investment coincides with an overall increase in foreign purchases, which reached 15% of all property transactions in Spain. This reflects a growing interest from international investors in the Spanish real estate sector.

Regions such as the Balearic Islands, Canary Islands, and Valencia have been particularly attractive to foreign buyers. Non-Spanish purchasers represented 33.37%, 31.11%, and 28.79% of the total sales in these regions, respectively.

Other prominent nationality groups in the market include the French and Romanians. The dominance of British buyers, who accounted for 15.77% of foreign purchasers in 2014, is expected to decline to 8.37% in 2024. This decrease may be partially attributed to the impact of Brexit and new restrictions on residency and investment.

The trend of Moroccans leading foreign property purchases in Spain has been consistent in recent years. In the first half of 2021, Moroccans purchased 5,159 homes, representing 10.8% of the total foreign transactions, surpassing British buyers who acquired 4,614 properties (9.7% of the total).

Despite being the top foreign buyers, Moroccans paid the lowest average price per square-meter at €640, followed by Romanians at €967/m2 and Ecuadorians at €984/m2.

In contrast, the highest average prices were paid by buyers from Sweden (€2,768/m2), Denmark (€2,680/m2), Germany (€2,676/m2), Switzerland (€2,464/m2), the United States (€2,266/m2), and Norway (€2,223/m2).

While foreign property purchases in Spain decreased by 7.5% year-on-year in the first half of 2023, some nationalities continued to invest heavily. Russians increased their acquisitions by 50.2% compared to the same period in the previous year, followed by Ukrainians (41.6%) and Americans (13.6%).

Murcia and Catalonia remain attractive regions for foreign investors, with many seeking to purchase properties in these areas to take advantage of the mild climate and tourist attractions.