Alicante and Malaga remain popular with foreign buyers
According to the latest analysis from Kyero.com, foreign buyers are increasingly looking for bargain properties and continue to focus their property searches in Spain’s best-known provinces.
Published in January 2011, the latest Kyero.com enquiry report analyses over 110,000 enquiries made by email through the site during the second half of 2010.
Estate agents advertising on Kyero.com can access the full 30-page report providing a province-by-province breakdown of Spanish properties of most interest to foreign buyers.
With the benefit of the information contained in previous issues, they can also access in-depth buyer trends dating back to 2004.
A three page overview of the latest report comparing 2009 and 2010 is available as a free download from: media.kyero.com
Compared to the Kyero report covering the first half of 2010, property enquiries for Alicante and Malaga provinces have remained stable.
Alicante province accounted for 33.8% of all property enquiries in the first half of 2010 and grew slightly to 34.8% in the second half of the year.
Malaga province remained constant with a 13.2% share of all property enquiries throughout the year.
These high ratios are consistent with the new weekly report from Kyero showing the most popular properties of the week. Properties from Alicante dominate the report in all price ranges with property in Malaga making frequent appearances.
These two provinces – particularly the Costa Blanca in Alicante and the Costa del Sol in Malaga – have traditionally been favourite destinations for foreign buyers. Their appeal certainly shows no sign of waning.
Granada and Murcia gaining ground:
In the first half of 2010, Almeria province gained ground over Granada province to claim the bronze medal in the race for most popular province.
In the second half of 2010, this trend reversed, and Granada province regained it’s previous position. The percentages are close between the two and we can expect to see these two jostle for position in 2011.
In the first half of 2010, the next most popular provinces were Tarragona, Valencia and Murcia – in that order. In the second half, that order had changed to Murcia, Tarragona and Valencia.
Murcia made the largest position change going from a 5.3% share of enquiries in the first half to a 6.2% share in the second half.
Again, the percentage changes are small and we can expect more jostling between these three provinces in 2011.
Significant share elsewhere:
Although the top-seven provinces account for almost 78% of enquiries generated on Kyero.com during the second half of 2010, other provinces accounted for approximately 25,000 enquiries between them.
While these look like also-rans in the grand scheme of things, there is clearly significant foreign-buyer interest in areas away from Spain’s most popular and traditional areas.
Estate agents advertising on Kyero.com can access the full 30-page report providing a province-by-province breakdown of Spanish properties of most interest to foreign buyers.
Bargain hunters:
In terms of property price, it appears that there has been growth at the very low end of the market, with interest declining in the middle-ground and at the high end.
While interest is still the strongest in the €50-€150K price range, the second half of 2010 saw that share decline to 45.7% from 47.2% in the first half of the year.
Similarly, the €150-€250K price bracket saw a slight decline in share from 21.4% to 21.1%.
The most significant gain was seen in the under €50K category – going from 15.1% in the first half of the year to 17.4% in the second half.
At the high end, properties priced at over €250K accounted for 16.3% in the first half of the year compared to 15.8% in the second half.
The interest in very cheap properties is nothing new, but has likely been fuelled by news of Spanish banks disposing of repossessed properties. No doubt this trend will continue in 2011.
Foreign buyers:
Available in 9 languages, Kyero.com specialises in connecting foreign buyers with estate agents in Spain. Looking at total enquiries since the start of 2009, the distribution of enquiries by language is interesting.
59.5% English
14.4% French
7.8% Dutch
7.4% Spanish
4.5% German
3.4% Italian
1.5% Danish
1.2% Russian
0.3% Portuguese
While the proportion of English-language enquiries is high, this also includes many foreign buyers outside of the UK who have English as a second language. For example, visitors from Norway and Sweden fall into this category.
The biggest surprise is the high proportion of French and Dutch enquiries made on Kyero.com.
The least surprising contributor comes from Spain’s next-door-neighbour, Portugal.
The Kyero.com enquiry report is published bi-annually to analyse the trends in buyer behaviour and interest regarding Spanish property for sale. It excludes enquiries made about leasehold, fractional-ownership and rental properties.
Estate agents advertising properties on Kyero.com use the site to accurately quantify buyer sentiment. With access to this detailed information, they are able to adjust their marketing campaigns to appeal to the widest possible range of buyers.
