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Cash payments by both resident and foreign buyers. | Gemma Andreu

Andrew EdePalma07/01/2023 09:02
TW
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Figures from Spain's property registrars indicate that 37.9% of home purchases in the Balearics between January and September last year were made without mortgages; they were cash payments.

The national average for this type of transaction was 30.5%, a figure that was as high as this because of purchases in three regions. In Valencia, 47.6% were cash transactions; in the Canaries, 50%. By way of contrast, only 0.6% of purchases in Madrid didn't require a mortgage; in Catalonia, 22.1%.

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Money laundering in the Balearics: Over 1,000 "alerts" this year

Over the first nine months of 2022 there were 18,443 purchases in the Balearics; 7,427 didn't need a mortgage. A high number of these purchases were by residents, although the majority of buyers were foreign.

As recently reported, paying cash for a property can be a trigger for investigation of possible money laundering. From January 1 to October 15 last year there were 1,227 alerts raised by the registrars association in the Balearics. Following analysis, most of these cash transactions are found to be perfectly above board.