Foreign cash reviving home building in Spain

Madrid

RESIDENTIAL construction is coming back to life in Spain eight years after a property crash, with foreign investment pouring into developments in Madrid and Barcelona, and a jump in building permits pointing to more growth to come.

Half a million newly-built homes remain empty after the mania that peaked in 2007, largely on urban fringes and in remoter areas where people don't want to live.

But demand for properties ranging from luxury apartments to homes for the middle classes is rebounding in leading cities and industrially-strong regions such as the Basque Country, showing how Spain's economic recovery is on course despite political paralysis after two inconclusive general elections.

Construction and real estate accounted for more than a third of the nearly 22 billion euros (S$33 billion) of foreign investment in Spain in 2015, Economy Ministry data shows…