Foreign demand remains a key driver of the Spanish housing market. While the market is showing its first signs of fatigue after years of growth, reaching its highest figure since 2007 in 2025, with more than 705,000 homes registered with the Land Registry, 346,030 units have been sold so far in 2026 (January-June), 1.9% fewer than in the same period last year, when sales exceeded 352,700.
Key figures: foreign home buyers in Spain, 1H 2026
- 51,630: homes bought by foreign buyers
- 14.9%: share of all home sales
- 8%: increase on the previous six-month period
- 3.8%: increase on the first half of 2025
- 15.98%: foreign-buyer share in the second quarter, the highest in the historical series
- Alicante: highest provincial share, at 45.5% of sales
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Real estate activity is typically slightly stronger in the first half of the year than in the second, given its overlap with the summer season.
2026 started strongly, with 178,096 home sales between January and March, the third-highest result in the Registrars' historical series since the third quarter of 2007, and virtually unchanged from the final quarter of 2025. The highest figure recorded by the Registrars since the boom was in the first quarter of 2025 (181,625).
However, in the second quarter, the number of home sales registered a quarterly decline of 5.7% (the second consecutive decrease), falling to 167,934, the lowest figure in the last seven quarters. Year on year, sales fell by 2.3% compared with the same period in 2025.
Foreign buyers bought a record 51,630 homes in Spain in 1H 2026
Amid these declines, foreign demand for housing in Spain increased in both percentage and absolute terms during the first two quarters of the year.
The percentage of homes purchased by foreigners was 13.92% between January and March, up from 13.52% in the fourth quarter of 2025, reaching just under 24,800 units, more purchases than at the end of last year (24,100).
Foreign buyers’ share rose to 15.98% in the second quarter
In the second quarter, the overall decline in transactions in Spain contrasted sharply with the increase in both the proportion and number of purchases by foreign buyers. Specifically, 15.98% of transactions between April and June were carried out by international buyers, reaching just over 26,800 purchases, a record high in the historical series of the Spanish Association of Property Registrars.
The combined total for the first two quarters of 2026 was close to 51,630 home sales, 8% more than in the previous six-month period and 3.8% more than in the same period of 2025, representing 14.9% of all home sales recorded so far in 2026.
Foreign buyers concentrated on Spain’s Mediterranean coast and islands
Foreign buyers know what they want and continue to favour the Mediterranean coastal regions and both archipelagos as their preferred destinations.
Foreign buyers’ share of home sales by autonomous community
Autonomous community | Share of purchases by foreign buyers |
|---|---|
Balearic Islands | 30.5% |
Valencian Community | 29.6% |
Canary Islands | 25.8% |
Region of Murcia | 22.7% |
Catalonia | 16.4% |
Andalusia | 14.6% |
Madrid | 7.5% |
This translates to more than 2,000 transactions in the Balearic Islands, nearly 15,300 in the Valencian Community, almost 3,360 in the Canary Islands, and 2,975 in Murcia, along with more than 9,320 in Catalonia and 10,280 transactions in Andalusia. In Madrid, international buyers acquired 2,921 units.
Provinces with the highest foreign-buyer share
Zooming in on the provinces, the proportion of foreign buyers skyrocketed in Alicante during the first half of the year, accounting for 45.5% of all sales in the area, with more than 11,340 transactions.
Province | Share of transactions | Purchases by foreign buyers |
|---|---|---|
Alicante | 45.5% | More than 11,340 |
Málaga | 35.7% | 6,463 |
Balearic Islands | 30.5% | More than 2,000 |
Girona | 25.1% | Almost 1,880 |
Las Palmas | 23.2% | Approaching 1,530 |
In terms of total transactions, the ranking shifts slightly, and after Alicante and Málaga, Barcelona enters the list with over 5,640 sales to foreigners, representing 15.1% of the total in the Catalan province.
Next are Murcia (2,975) and Madrid (2,921), ahead of Valencia, with almost 2,900 homes. Their share in each province varies from 22.7% to 7.5% or 14.6%, respectively.
In the provinces of Almería, Tarragona and Castellón, foreigners also account for over a thousand transactions, and between 15% and 20% of the total number of home sales.
British buyers remained Spain’s largest foreign-buying group in 1H 2026
Regarding the nationality of foreign buyers, regardless of whether they are residents in Spain, the British continue to account for the largest volume and share of transactions, with more than 3,510 home purchases between January and June 2026.
However, buyers from the Netherlands, Morocco and Germany were close behind, with more than 3,000 transactions recorded in the first six months of the year.
Dutch buyers continue to grow year after year and, so far in 2026, have purchased just over 3,430 homes, only around 80 fewer than British buyers, representing 6.7% of the total foreign market. Moroccans overtook Germans to become the third-largest group of foreign buyers, with almost 3,125 purchases, accounting for 6.1% of the market, compared with 3,100 Germans, or 6%.
Top foreign nationalities buying homes in Spain
Nationality | Home purchases | Share of foreign-buyer transactions |
|---|---|---|
British | More than 3,510 | 6.8% |
Dutch | Just over 3,430 | 6.7% |
Moroccan | Almost 3,125 | 6.1% |
German | 3,100 | 6% |
Romanian | 2,776 | 4%–5.4% |
Italian | 2,706 | 4%–5.4% |
French | 2,582 | 4%–5.4% |
Polish | 2,269 | 4%–5.4% |
Belgian | 2,051 | 4%–5.4% |
Ukrainians (1,553), Chinese buyers (1,477) and Swedes (1,269) also exceeded 1,000 purchases during the first six months of 2026. They were followed by 870 purchases by Americans, just over 750 by Russians and almost 620 by Portuguese buyers.
European Union buyers accounted for almost 58% of foreign purchases
The Registrars have also incorporated information on the origin of buyers by geographical area, highlighting the significant weight of European Union citizens, who accounted for almost 58% of all transactions during the first six months of the year, totalling nearly 29,860 purchases.
They were followed by buyers from the rest of Europe, led by the British, who accounted for 16.8% of the total, with more than 8,660 homes purchased. African countries represented 9% of transactions, led by Morocco, with almost 4,630 homes purchased.
Among buyers from the rest of the world, those from Asia (6.6%) and South America (6%) stood out, with between 3,100 and 3,500 purchases. Transactions involving buyers from North America (2.7%), with 1,400 units; Central America and the Caribbean (1%), with almost 500 units; and Oceania (0.1%) were comparatively negligible, with just 52 homes purchased.
Average price paid by international buyers in Spain
The Registrars also provide quarterly data on the average price paid by buyers from these geographical areas.
Buyer origin | Average price paid in Q1–Q2 2026 |
|---|---|
North America | €4,336–€4,311/m² |
European Union | €3,085–€3,149/m² |
Oceania | €2,945–€3,240/m² |
Rest of Europe | €2,813–€2,885/m² |
Asia | €2,668–€2,691/m² |
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