Property purchases by foreigners on the Costa Del Sol now exceed pre-crisis figures.

Sales of properties on the Costa del Sol to non-residents rose by 45 per cent in the first half of the year and experts predict that the year will close with a further increase of 20 per cent.

The increase in sales of properties to foreign buyers is now a fact. Figures for the first half of 2014 show that the number of transactions carried out by non residents has exceeded those in 2007, the year before the property market went into depression. The Costa del Sol Tourist Board and the Association of Constructors and Developers of Malaga, report that between January and June 4,739 properties in the province were bought by foreigners. This is considerably higher than the 3,506 in the first half of 2007 and is even 45 per cent higher than in the same period of last year.

This year to date one in every two properties sold in Malaga province is purchased by a foreigner.

The British market is particularly strong, as is the Scandinavian market, but it is unlikely that there will be a recovery in demand by Spanish buyers in the short term and that is why estate agencies on the Costa del Sol tend to look abroad for purchasers these days.

Before the property bubble burst, in 2007, developers and constructors sold 30,665 properties on the Costa, of which only 5,095 were bought by foreigners. Now, the ratio has changed, with 6,389 properties bought by Spanish buyers and 4,739 by foreigners.

Things are also changing in the foreign markets. Although the majority of buyers are still British, Scandinavians and those from Benelux countries are purchasing more properties here now.

The Russian market, which was booming, has slowed down at present as a consequence of Vladimir Putin’s decision to veto certain products from Europe and prevent Russians from taking capital out of the country. This is affecting not only Russians who were planning to buy a property in Spain but also those who have started the proceedings and now find that they cannot continue with the payments. Some of those who have recently completed a purchase also find themselves unable to access further funds from their home country.