Real estate sales to foreigners grew 40.9% in 2021, showing a strong revival following the pandemic

International residents involved in real estate sales in Catalonia grew 40.9% in 2021 compared to 2020, as data published on Thursday by the Catalan notarial college observatory shows. 

During the year, the organization registered 17,493 sales, far ahead of the 12,407 seen the previous year. The only explanation for the low number in 2020 is the Covid-19 pandemic, the college claims, as sales have been increasing year after year, except for 2020.

French citizens are the main buyers, as they represent 47% of the real estate sales, followed by German nationals, who accounted for 11% of the operations. 

The average price for each square meter was €2,184, a rise of 9.8% over what was seen in 2020. The increase, however, is much lower compared to the Spanish average square meter price jump of 14.3%. 

February 2022, an increase on 2021

Real estate operations in Catalonia during February 2022 also showed an increase compared to the same period last year. According to provisional figures released on Thursday by the Spanish Statistics Institute (INE), 7,934 properties were sold during the second month of the year.

This is the best results for any February since 2007, when 11,466 properties were sold shortly before the economic crisis. Of the sales made this year, 7,412 were empty properties, and 522 were official protection properties. The vast majority were second-hand properties (6,539), while there were also 1,395 new houses and apartments. 

Compared to January, 0.76% fewer properties were sold in Catalonia in February than in the first month of the year. 

In all of Spain during February, there were 53,623 (24%) more operations than in the same period last year. Compared to the first month of 2022, the increase was 1.8%. 

Catalonia was among the top five territories in Spain with most sales, after Andalusia (10,978), Valencia (7,986), and ahead of Madrid (7,610).