The latest data from Spanish notaries on property purchases by foreign buyers has revealed several records. Not only did foreigners pay the highest average price on record for properties during the first half of the year, but as many as seven nationalities also bought more homes than ever before on the Spanish market.
Specifically, purchases by Americans, Portuguese, Ukrainians, Italians, Moroccans, Colombians and Dutch nationals all hit historic highs. Together, these seven groups accounted for 20,364 property transactions between January and June — 28.6% of the 71,155 total purchases made by foreign buyers in Spain, including both residents and non-residents. The volume of purchases from these seven nationalities has almost quadrupled compared to the first half of 2007 (5,298 transactions).
Of these, Moroccans led in terms of the number of transactions, with 5,654 sales in the first half of the year. During this period, they also became the second-largest group of foreign buyers overall, only surpassed by the British (5,731). Italians and Dutch buyers followed, both with more than 4,100 transactions, ranking fourth and sixth respectively among all foreign purchasers.
Ukrainians also set a record with 2,165 transactions, while Americans exceeded 1,500 purchases in a single half-year for the first time. Colombia and Portugal complete the list, each with just over 1,100 transactions.
Portuguese purchases see the strongest growth
The nationality with the sharpest year-on-year increase in home purchases was Portuguese, with a 22.8% rise in the first half of 2025 — well above the 2% overall growth recorded among foreign buyers during the same period.
The Netherlands followed with an 18.6% increase in transactions, while the United States came next with 14.3%. These three countries recorded the strongest growth rates among all nationalities up to June.
In comparison, purchases from Colombia rose by 6.6%, Ukraine by 4.5%, Italy by 3.7%, and Morocco by 3.3%. All of these increases were above the overall average of 2%.
The US and Morocco: opposites in price
When it comes to price per square metre, Americans topped the list, paying an average of €3,465/m² — the highest among all foreign buyers. They were followed by purchasers from Switzerland (€3,457/m²), Sweden (€3,421/m²), Norway (€3,292/m²) and Germany (€3,270/m²).
Dutch and Italian buyers also stood out, paying €2,574/m² and €2,566/m² respectively — both above the overall foreign average of €2,417/m².
Below that threshold were Portugal (€2,195/m²), Ukraine (€1,832/m²), Colombia (€1,535/m²) and Morocco (€747/m²). Despite Morocco being the second most active market by transaction volume — just behind the United Kingdom — Moroccan buyers paid the lowest prices of all nationalities analysed by notaries, and were the only group to pay under €1,000/m².
Most purchases made by residents
In the first half of the year, most property purchases by foreign nationals were made by residents in Spain. According to the notaries’ data, residents accounted for 60.9% of all transactions (43,306), an increase of 6.4%, while non-residents made up the remaining 39.1% (27,849 transactions), representing a decline of 4.1%.
This pattern also applies to the seven nationalities that set purchase records: of their 20,364 total transactions, 14,962 were made by residents and 5,402 by non-residents.
However, there were two notable exceptions: there were more non-resident Dutch buyers (3,144) than resident ones (1,022), and the same was true for Americans, with 829 non-resident purchases compared to 735 by residents.
Foreigners bought over 71,000 homes in Spain H1 as prices hit record highs
Foreign home purchases in Spain continue to rise. Notary data shows that in the first half of 2025, foreigners bought 71,155 properties, up 2% from the same period in 2024. This is the first time since late 2022 that transactions have exceeded 70,000 units.
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The British remain the largest group of foreign homebuyers in Spain, but interest is growing among citizens of other countries, including Germany, France, the Netherlands and Italy, particularly for properties on the Mediterranean coast, the main draw for foreign buyers.
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