Foreign buyers accounted for 40% of all property sales in the Canary Islands during the first half of 2017, according to new data just released by the banking group BBVA. Fueling an overall 14% rise in total transactions versus the same period in 2016.

Soaring tourist numbers in the Canaries have encouraged greater overseas investment in the local property market during the first half of this year, according to BBVA. With the bank reporting that just over 40% of all sales during this period were financed by funds from foreign banks.

Whilst rising demand is also having an upward impact on prices - a trend readily evident here on Lanzarote where property values have risen steadily over the last year or so. As evidenced by further research from Spain´s National Institute of Statistics which reveals that prices have climbed by 12.4% across the archipelago since 2014 - so helping to ensure that the Canaries have enjoyed the fifth largest recovery of all of Spain´s autonomous communities since the economic meltdown in 2008.

Such is the interest in the islands and their recent tourist boom that foreign demand for property in the Canaries has risen by 11% versus the first half of 2016 whilst domestic demand rose by 17% over the same period.

The housing market still has some way to go however before matching the volume of sales prior to the crash - with BBVA estimating that total transactions are still some 30% down versus the high water mark year of 2006 when 44,426 properties changed hands in the Canaries.