Andalucia attracts the most buyers of Spanish property, according to new research from TheMoveChannel.com. The portal´s infographic, which compares activity in the last 12 months with two years ago, reveals that Andalucia has overtaken Valencia as the number one place to buy property in Spain.

Andalucia accounted for one in three property enquiries in the 12 months between February 2013 and January 2014, an increase from the previous At a Glance infographic, which saw the region receive 30.84 per cent of enquiries between February 2011 and January 2012. Two years ago, the Community of Valencia dominated enquiries, with a 32.24 per cent share of activity. Now, the region accounts for one in four enquiries (25.41 per cent).

Murcia remains the third most popular area of Spain among house hunters, with its share of enquiries actually increasing over two years from 19.04 per cent to 20.28 per cent.

Together, the three regions show that the buyers still have a clear favourite corner of the country: even though they now prefer the south coast of Spain to the west, buyers are mostly interested in property in the Costa del Sol, Costa Blanca, Costa Calida and Costa de la Luz.

Buyers are also increasingly keen to seek sun and sand away from mainland Spain: the Canary Islands account for 9.48 per cent of enquiries, up from 7.35 per cent to years ago, making them the fourth most popular region of Spain. The Balearic Islands, on the other hand, have seen their share of enquiries fall from 5.13 per cent to 3.59 per cent.

Some things do not change: international buyers still prefer real estate closer to the coast, with even high profile inland areas such as Madrid accounting for just 0.26 per cent of enquiries. Nonetheless, buyer interest is spreading across Spain: apart from six regions, every area of Spain has seen enquiries increase since 2012.

The Valencian Community Valencia continued to dominate property searches, accounting for four of the 10 most looked-for locations, ahead of Andalucia´s three. While Denia and Xabia led the region´s popularity in 2012, though, now Valencia´s appeal is driven by Torrevieja and Benidorm. Torrevieja is the most sought-after city in Spain, attracting 3.15 per cent of searches, ahead of third place Benidorm (1.79 per cent) and seventh place Denia (1.46 per cent). Estepona was the second most sought-after location, while Marbella was the target of the fourth highest number of searches (2.26 per cent).

Catalonia, Castile and León and Murcia all made it into the top 10 searched-for locations, with El Raso enjoying the biggest rise in searches. The city accounted for no searches whatsoever two years ago, but now makes up 1.51 per cent of searches on TheMoveChannel.com, as buyers look all over the Costa Blanca for bargains.

The infographic also records search behaviour from property buyers on Google. Over the past two years, internet searches for “property in Spain” have multiplied by an average of eight times. Buyers now prefer to search for “property in Spain” rather than “Spanish property”, although the latter also saw the number of searches rise by an average of 50 per cent. “Houses for sale in Spain” remain the most searched-for type of property.

Editor Ivan Radford:

“What a difference two years makes. Our second in a series of “Two Years On” infographics shows that buyers of Spanish property remain committed to the Costas, but are starting to look further south. Interestingly, Andalucia, which received the highest number of enquiries, is also the area of Spain with the most property listings on TheMoveChannel.com. The average price of a two-bed apartment in Valencia is cheaper, at £104,240 compared to £278,111 in Andalucia, which suggests that quality is perhaps being prioritised over value, with Estepona and Marbella some of the most popular places to buy.

“With the majority of regions all enjoying rising numbers of enquiries and Google searches for ‘property in Spain’ soaring 800 per cent, TheMoveChannel.com´s infographic paints a brighter picture of a property market compared to two years ago, where low prices are attracting more buyers – and a hint of a widespread recovery may be beginning to appear.”

Click here to see the full infographic.

Founded in 1999, TheMoveChannel.com is the leading independent website for international property, with more than 800,000 listings in over 100 countries around the world, marketed on behalf of agents, developers and private owners.

The website address ishttp://www.TheMoveChannel.com and the office address is 24 Jack’s Place, Corbet Place, Spitalfields, London, E1 6NN.

Contact Dan Johnson on 0207 952 7650 for further information.