The section of the CES report dedicated to housing is based on data extracted from the National Statistics Institute (INE) which certifies a progressive increase in the rate of non-resident buyers, a rate which stood at 8.7% in 2007. The same data indicate that 13% of purchases are made by foreigners resident in the islands, which raises the total rate of operations carried out by foreign buyers, whether resident or not, to 38% (six points higher than the statistics of the Association of Registrars for that year). The national average is 19.3%.
The debate on the purchase of homes by foreigners came to the fore again last week, on the occasion of the sales of homes to foreign nationals related to leaders of Més, a party that has always defended the restriction of sales to non-residents as a way to alleviate the galloping crisis of access to housing in the islands.
In these cases - which affected Jaume Alzamora and Lluís Apesteguia, parliamentary spokesman and party coordinator, respectively - the politicians settled the controversy on the basis of the express distinction between foreigners and non-residents. “The condition of residence is a key element in the debate”, Apesteguia pointed out.
“We have always talked about residents or non-residents. The European Union has already told us that these limitations on non-residents can only be temporary and subject to an objective,” he said, adding that “there is a possibility” to set this prescription, “and we do not go into whether they are foreigners”.
For his part, Alzamora pointed out that “Més speaks of non-residents, and would never discriminate against anyone on the basis of their nationality. A non-resident can be born in Ariany and we ask that their ability to buy a home be limited. Just as if you were born in Germany, the United States or Cameroon, you have every right to buy a house if you live here”.
In any case, the data in the CES report certify the penetration of the real estate sector by non-residents (who may also come from another autonomous community), who are increasingly interested in buying a holiday home in the islands. This has been a key factor - but not the only one - in rising property prices. The CES study indicates a 4.1 % increase in prices compared to the previous year (9.3 % for new-build housing and 3.4 % for second-hand housing). The price index was at its highest point since 2008. “This means that if in 2015 a person had to pay 100,000 euros, in 2023 they had to pay up to 163,400”, the report points out.
The report confirms the progressive increase in the price of housing that has been experienced in the last decade and the Professor of Economics at the University of the Balearic Islands (UIB), Antonio Alcover (one of the authors of the Report), points out that the existence of “two differentiated markets” - that of luxury housing, on the one hand, and the rest of the supply, on the other - in the Balearic real estate sector “distorts the averages” that can be extracted in the different studies of the sector that are carried out. For this reason, Alcover is in favour of “going deeper and looking at the housing market in a different way because we have two markets with two different products”. Making this distinction in the studies, he says, “is something that many members of the ESC, such as the trade unions, have been asking us to do”.
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TawnyMy thoughts exactly. I didn't know there were many Mallorcans in Stan's stamping ground - around Shagaluf isn't it ? Whatever , Mallorcans don't move from Mallorca, certainly not permanently.
Stan The ManI think you will find most Mallorquins are too "closed" to move any further than the next town, or at a push, the mainland!
tranq tranquerAbsolutely agree with you.
It would have been interesting to know, how many foreign owners , now rent out their propertys ? Many Mallorcaeans ŵho have made considerable money from Tourism. Then left the Island to live in other Countrys, taking all their earnings with their departure..
Professor of Economics at the University of the Balearic Islands (UIB), Antonio Alcover (one of the authors of the Report), points out that the existence of “two differentiated markets” - that of luxury housing, on the one hand, and the rest of the supply, on the other - in the Balearic real estate sector “distorts the averages” Regarding " the rest of the supply " my understanding from various news reports is that the plethora of foreign real estate companies which have appeared in many local towns are buying up virtually anything that comes on the market, especially town houses. Some are renovated, others not but either way they are priced and marketed to the foreign buyers clamouring for a piece of the action. The result is young local buyers cannot afford a house in the town where they were born. This is why a two tier market, resident or non resident needs to be established. This is not anti foreigner. Become a resident and then you can buy. It means making some effort, rather than just having a large bank account .