Russians concluded a 10-year record number of real estate transactions in Spain

According to the results of the first half of 2023, Russian citizens concluded a record number of real estate transactions in Spain over the past ten years, writes RBC with reference to data from the report of the Center for Statistical Information of the Notary of the Kingdom.

In just six months, Russians concluded 2,137 real estate purchase and sale transactions. This is 50.2% more than last year’s results and is comparable to the peak values ​​of 2013-2014, when 2,426 and 2,573 transactions were concluded, respectively. The number of transactions concluded by citizens of Ukraine (by 41.6%) and the United States (by 13.6%) also increased. Russians account for 3.2% of all transactions concluded, and the British, leaders in the number of transactions, account for 9.6%.

At the same time, the total number of real estate transactions concluded by foreigners in Spain during this period decreased by 7.5% and amounted to 67,980.

Experts interviewed by the publication indicate that Spain remains one of the few European countries that continues to issue “golden visas” in exchange for the purchase of housing from 500,000 euros. Last year, the kingdom issued a total of 2,462 such visas. From 2016 to October 2022, 3,931 Russians received residence permits under this program, 738 of them in 2022. The country’s authorities planned to increase the threshold to 1 million euros or completely abolish this practice, but so far the process of obtaining “golden visas” has not changed.