Foreigners accounted for a record 15.98% of homes purchased in Spain between April and June 2026, buying more than 26,800 properties even as the country’s overall sales market contracted.
The share was the highest recorded by Spain’s College of Registrars, which said foreign demand increased both in absolute terms and as a proportion of transactions during the second quarter of the year.
Foreigners bought nearly one in six homes sold in Spain
The record foreign-buyer share came as total Spanish home sales fell for a second consecutive quarter.
There were 167,934 residential transactions in the second quarter, down 5.7% on the previous three months and 2.3% compared with the same quarter of 2025. The total was the lowest recorded in the past seven quarters, according to the College of Registrars.
New-home sales saw the sharpest quarterly fall, dropping 11.5% to 34,919 transactions. Sales of existing homes fell by 4% to 133,015.
Foreign buyers’ share rose across Spain
The proportion of purchases made by foreigners increased in every autonomous community, the Registrars said.
The largest foreign-buyer shares were recorded in the Balearic Islands, where they accounted for 32.27% of transactions, and the Valencian Community, where the figure was 31.03%.
These were the only two autonomous communities where foreign buyers represented more than three in every 10 home purchases during the quarter.
British, Dutch and German buyers led the figures
Buyers from the UK accounted for 6.99% of foreign property purchases, followed closely by those from the Netherlands at 6.94%. German buyers represented 6.11%.
Purchasers from European Union countries made up 57.39% of foreign transactions, while buyers from the rest of Europe accounted for 16.75%.
Foreign-born population passes 10 million
Spain’s National Statistics Institute, INE, separately reported that the country had 10,154,722 residents born abroad on 1 April 2026.
The number of foreign nationals was lower, at 7,346,414, which INE said reflected Spanish nationality-acquisition processes. The number of foreign nationals rose by 94,182 during the first quarter of 2026.
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Spain’s overall resident population stood at 49,687,120 on 1 April after an increase of 97,021 people during the quarter.
