Foreign buyers are purchasing fewer homes in Spain this year while paying increasingly higher prices for residential property. According to the General Council of Notaries, foreigners were involved in 62,327 home transactions nationwide during the first half of the year, a decline of 13% compared with the same period in 2025. This represents the sharpest drop in transaction volume since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Furthermore, their share of the residential market continued the downward trend seen over the past two years, falling to 18.3% of total transactions, compared with 19.2% in the same period of 2025 and 20.3% in 2024.
Notarial statistics show that foreign residents accounted for almost two-thirds of all transactions, specifically 63.2%, representing a 9.7% decline compared with the first half of 2025, when they reached record levels. Even so, their activity remains high compared with the historical average.
Non-residents, meanwhile, accounted for 36.8% of transactions (22,940 purchases), a decrease of 18% compared with the first half of last year. This is the lowest figure recorded in five years and remains well below the record level reached in 2022.
Morocco becomes the leading country of origin
Buyers from Morocco accounted for the highest number of transactions during the first half of 2026, with 4,960 purchases (8% of the total), followed by buyers from the United Kingdom with 4,541 transactions (7.3%), Italy with 4,109 (6.6%), Romania with 3,974 (6.4%) and Germany with 3,907 (6.3%).
Together, these five nationalities represented 34.6% of all home purchases by foreign buyers, although notable differences emerged between residents and non-residents.
Among foreign residents, Moroccan nationals accounted for the highest number of transactions (12.4% of the total), with particularly high numbers in Murcia (36.1%), Navarre (34.3%), La Rioja (25.1%) and Aragon (23.7%). Italians ranked second by transaction volume (9.2% of the total), with a significant presence in the Canary Islands (22.3%), the Balearic Islands (16.8%), Madrid (13.4%) and Catalonia (11.8%).
Among non-resident foreign buyers, however, the most active nationalities were the Dutch (12.6%), Germans (11.8%), British (10.4%) and Polish (8.1%).
Dutch buyers, for example, played a prominent role in Murcia (17.8%), the Valencian Community (15.8%) and Andalusia (13.4%), while Germans accounted for a large share of transactions in the Balearic Islands (52.5%), Castilla-La Mancha (26.5%), the Canary Islands (22.3%) and Galicia (14.3%). British buyers were particularly prominent in Murcia (25.6%), while Polish buyers stood out in the Valencian Community (11.4%).
As for nationality-specific trends, the General Council of Notaries reports that only two nationalities increased their home purchases in Spain year on year between January and June: Venezuela (10.2%) and Colombia (7.4%). By contrast, transactions fell by more than 20% among buyers from Russia (-26.2%), China (-26.1%), the United States (-22%), Bulgaria (-21.6%), Belgium (-21.3%) and the United Kingdom (-21%). More moderate declines were recorded among buyers from Poland (-6.6%), Portugal (-5.0%) and Norway (-1.2%).
Average price per square metre reaches a new record
According to notarial data, the average price paid per square metre by foreign buyers during the first half of 2026 reached €2,644/m², 9.4% higher than in the same period of 2025 and the highest figure on record.
Non-resident buyers continued to pay the highest prices, averaging €3,493/m², compared with €2,102/m² paid by foreign residents and €1,971/m² paid by Spanish buyers.
By nationality, the highest average prices were paid by buyers from the United States (€3,948/m²), Sweden (€3,839/m²), Germany (€3,763/m²), Switzerland (€3,760/m²) and Norway (€3,588/m²).
Prices above the overall average were also recorded among buyers from Poland, Belgium, Ireland, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Russia and the United Kingdom. Meanwhile, the lowest average prices were paid by buyers from Morocco (€801/m²), Romania (€1,439/m²), Ecuador (€1,531/m²) and Colombia (€1,604/m²).
Declines across almost all autonomous communities
Home purchases by foreign buyers declined across almost the entire country, with Castilla-La Mancha (4.4%) and Extremadura (3.3%) the only regions to record growth.
The steepest declines were registered in Cantabria (-20.5%), the Canary Islands (-20.3%) and the Community of Madrid (-19.7%), followed by the Balearic Islands (-15.4%), the Valencian Community (-15.4%), the Basque Country (-14%), Galicia (-12.8%), Andalusia (-12.7%) and Murcia (-12.2%).
Catalonia (-9%), Castile and León (-8.2%), Asturias (-8.2%) and Navarre (-5.3%) all posted single-digit declines, while transaction volumes remained broadly stable in La Rioja (-0.8%) and Aragon (-0.2%).
The Valencian Community remained the leading region for foreign transactions, with 9,250 purchases by non-residents (40.3% of the total) and 8,196 by resident foreigners (20.8%). Andalusia also recorded more than 11,800 transactions overall, alongside Catalonia, which surpassed 10,000 transactions.
Notarial statistics show that foreign residents accounted for almost two-thirds of all foreign purchases, specifically 63.2%, representing a 9.7% decline compared with the first half of 2025, when activity reached record levels. Despite the decrease, volumes remain high by historical standards.
Non-resident buyers, meanwhile, accounted for 36.8% of transactions (22,940 purchases), a decline of 18% compared with the first half of last year. This represents the lowest figure in five years and remains well below the record levels recorded in 2022.
