Foreign buying driving up Mallorca house prices

Many foreign purchases are second homes. | Archive

Majorca Daily Bulletin reporterPalma14/02/2022 07:20

According to latest figures from the General Council of Notaries, 56,272 properties in the Balearics have been purchased by foreign buyers over the past ten years. Foreign buying has increased in all regions of Spain, but the market in the Balearics has its own particular characteristics. It is led by German buyers - whether for permanent residence or as second homes - while the islands also have the highest average price in the country.

In the first half of 2021, there were 2,812 transactions, the number having doubled over the ten-year period. The average price has meanwhile increased by more than 40% from 2,524 euros per square metre in 2010 to 3,607. This contrasts with an average price of 1,863 euros for the whole of Spain.

President Armengol last week observed that purchases of second homes were a factor contributing to the rise in house prices. Of foreign nationals living in the Balearics, Moroccans are the most numerous, yet they are not among the leading foreign buyers. In several regions of the country, Moroccans and Romanians are the main buyers. In the Balearics, prices make the buying of homes less affordable for these nationals as well as for Spanish.

Josep Castells of Més in Minorca will be raising the issue of foreign buying in the Balearic parliament on Tuesday. He will ask President Armengol what measures she intends to limit the purchase of homes by foreign citizens. He argues that measures must be taken in order to address the price of housing.