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The towns in Spain that interest foreigners more than Spaniards to buy a home

Large towns on the coast and on the beach are usually the main destinations for property searches among foreigners, but today we are going to focus on Spanish towns with less than 5,000 inhabitants where the interest in buying property is higher from abroad than from within Spain.

According to the study carried out by idealista, the town in which the weight of foreign interest in buying a house is greater in relation to that of Spaniards themselves is Fuente Obejuna (Cordoba), where 77% of the visits received in recent months came from abroad.

One such property for sale in Fuente Obejuna is this countryside estate, including a 4-bedroom farmhouse and several outbuildings on a 40,000m2 plot, for sale on idealista for 299,000 euros. 

The Spanish provinces with the highest proportion of foreigners buying homes during the last quarter were Alicante (40.7%), the Balearic Islands (35.4%), Málaga (33.7%), Santa Cruz de Tenerife (32.1%) and Gerona (27.9%), according to official data from registrars. And foreigners who decide to start looking for a home in Spain through idealista, the real estate marketplace in southern Europe, also show a great interest in the small towns and villages in these same provinces.

In order to carry out this study, idealista has measured the origin of the visits received by properties for sale on its portal in municipalities with less than 5,000 inhabitants over the last three months.

Two municipalities in the province of Salamanca, Garcirrey and El Milano, complete the podium, with 69% and 66% of the visits they received coming from international sources. The next town on the list is Cala Ratjada, on the island of Mallorca, with 63% of searches from abroad, followed by Laroya (Almería) with 61%, Valle Gran Rey (on the island of La Gomera) with 57% and Cómpeta (Málaga) also with 57%.

Not long ago we highlighted the towns that receive the most searches from abroad when it comes to buying property. One of them was Ciudad Quesada, in Alicante, and now it appears again among those that are attracting the interest of foreigners rather than nationals.

This Alicante town accounted for 55% of international visits, while Canillas de Albaida and Sayalonga (both in Málaga) had 54%. The towns of Benitachell (Alicante), Cala Millor (Mallorca), Arboleas (Almería) and Cala Bona (Mallorca) accounted for 53% of the visits from foreigners.

Sa Coma (Mallorca) and the La Gomera town of Alajeró (Santa Cruz de Tenerife) accounted for 52% of searches, while Albanchez (Almería), Deya (Mallorca), Cala D'Or (Mallorca) and Lubrín (Almería) accounted for 51%. Finally, the towns of Jete (Granada) and Portbou (Girona) are of equal interest to foreigners and Spaniards.

Disparity in the prices of these towns in demand by foreigners

If we look at the prices being asked for houses for sale in these towns with less than 5,000 inhabitants, the Balearic Islands clearly lead the way with the highest average prices. This is the case in Deya (5,889 euros/m2), according to idealista's latest report on pre-owned property prices, or Cala d'Or (3,926 euros/m2).

Property for sale in Deya includes this charming countryside cottage which is on the market for 1,325,000 euros. 

Moving on to the towns where average prices are below 3,000 euros/m2, Benitachell and Ciudad Quesada, both in the province of Alicante, feature with average prices of 2,944 euros/m2 and 2,303 euros/m2, respectively. Also in this price range between 2,000-3,000 euros/m2 are the Mallorcan towns of Sa Coma (2,676 euros/m2) and Cala Millor (2,276 euros/m2).

On the other hand, the most affordable prices among these towns are concentrated in Fuente Obejuna, in Cordoba, with average prices of 359 euros/m2. These towns with the lowest prices have few inhabitants and little supply on the market, so their prices are arithmetic averages without statistical treatment, and do not appear in the idealista price report.

According to the current available supply, Laroya (Almería) reaches 377 euros/m2, while the two Salamancan towns of Garcirrey (400 euros/m2) and El Milano (458 euros/m2), together with two other municipalities in Almería such as Lubrín (615 euros/m2) and Albanchez (657 euros/m2), all below 1,000 euros/m2, accompany them.