The pandemic has only slowed down the housing market development. According to the European Housing Report 2021 by Re / Max Europe, there has been a surge in activity, characterized by a sharp increase in prices. Housing is equally in demand among those who buy real estate for the first time and those seeking to improve their quality of life.
Since March 2020, 30% of Europeans have been considering moving, and 40% are planning to buy or sell housing in 2021. 37% are considering moving out of town to find more space to work remotely. In addition to striving to improve the conditions of their primary residence, there is also a desire to take advantage of the newly discovered international mobility to purchase a holiday home, which, depending on the circumstances, can also become the primary residence.
Spain is one of the ideal destinations for this type of operation. Compared to the markets of other European countries, especially from Northern Europe, Great Britain, and the USA, prices here are very competitive, also due to a large number of properties on offer. 14.6% of Spanish real estate is a second home for more than 3.7 million people, and in some provinces, this figure even exceeds 30%.
Some of the cheapest countries in Europe offer very affordable housing, but with little or no services and a poor quality of life. In contrast, Spain is very attractive in this direction. Unsurprisingly, in recent years, non-resident foreigners have accounted for 10 to 13% of all real estate transactions in the Spanish market, even though activity has decreased in the past year and a half due to the pandemic.
This percentage is even higher in regions such as the Balearic Islands, where foreigners account for almost 30% of all real estate transactions. In other coastal regions such as the Canary Islands, Valencia and Murcia, they account for 20%. Thus, it comes as no surprise that a study by Parkdean Resorts, one of the UK’s leading tour operators, ranked three Spanish cities in the top 20 vacation home destinations in the world.
The study focused on 32 medium and large coastal cities - not necessarily on the shores of a warm, bathing sea, but also on lakes, oceans, or even salt marshes. The results were obtained based on several factors: average price per square meter, crime rate, cost of living, quality of medical services and life expectancy. Parkdean received data on health care, crime, and living costs from the international platform Numbeo. The rankings were based on the overall score compiled from the results for each metric.