During last year, the city of Palma has experienced an exponential growth of the luxury tourism becoming Europe’s top city in “cosmopolitan tourism”.

This situation was backed up by the opening of new boutique hotels as well as the excellent gastronomic and complementary offers. This can be also extended to the real estate market in the island, especially the luxury sector, that is going through a very good moment these last few years, with a relevant increase both in number of sales and square meter selling price. These circumstances are especially visible in areas such as the centre of Palma and the southwest of Majorca.

When it comes to nationalities, Germans are still leading the investors list on the luxury real estate market, followed by the English and in third place, the Scandinavians, that show a special preference for Palma. Regarding this information, we have to highlight that 93% of the new residents of Palma in 2017 are foreigners. And again Germans stand out in the numbers, choosing to live in Palma and enjoy its quality of life.

All this that has been stated before contributed to a volume of real estate sales in the island last year similar to the numbers registered in 2007, just before the crisis started, when total transactions reached 4,800 millions of euros and last year ended with 4,500 millions.

In fact, real estate experts started to point out the shortness of luxury housing in the island. Especially in the municipalities of Andratx and Calvià, and some neighbourhoods in Palma, such as Santa Catalina or Terreno, where the Scandinavians have invested immensely during the last few years. The demand for this type of product and its shortness in the island is causing that there is now interest in some other areas that some years ago were not exactly attractive for investors but that are now being revalued, like Platja de Palma or Cala Major.

The German client is still the one claiming most of these properties in Mallorca, and it is responsible for 57% of purchases, followed by the British with 16% not allowing the Brexit to hold them back. The Spanish, with the country’s economical recovery, are next with 7%, followed by the 5% of the Swiss and 4% of the Swedes.
If you intend to purchase a property in Majorca from a foreign country like England or Germany, you should consider that both the jurisdiction and the processes to be carried out and the roles of professionals involved in it are different.

Throughout the whole process, the presence of a lawyer is essential to be responsible for providing obligatory advice to clients on legal, tax and legal liabilities acquired during the action of sale.
Ripoll&Mateu can fully assist you in the buying process.