idealist/data

According to the latest data from property portal Idealista, 15% of rental homes in Spain were taken off the market in less than 24 hours during the final quarter of 2025. In some cities, demand is even more intense.

For those who can manage the initial outlay, buying in Spain may now make far more financial sense than renting. We have all the details.

The gap between Spain’s biggest cities and their surrounding towns has become impossible to ignore.

Spain’s property market isn’t just about rising prices. In several cities, the real story in late 2025 was how many buyers were chasing each available home.

According to a study by idealista, 49% of the current supply of two-bedroom flats for sale in Spain is priced below the reasonable affordability threshold. In other words, they are within reach of a household on an average income that allocates no more than 30% of its earnings to mortgage repayments – equivalent to €805 per month.

The Dutch presence in Spain’s housing market has shifted from a niche to a firmly established trend. People from the Netherlands are now a significant force among foreign buyers and tenants in Spain.

Foreign interest has long shaped Spain’s seaside property market, but fresh idealista data from late 2025 shows more precisely where that attention is concentrated – and how international some coastal provinces have become.

Foreign buyers have been a driving force in Spain’s coastal housing market for years, but fresh idealista data from late 2025 shows in detail who is looking, where, and how international some stretches of coastline have become.How much foreign interest is there in Spanish coastal property?Which nati

Housing prices in Spain’s urban areas are now 99% higher than in rural locations, according to idealista. The widest gap is in Madrid, where city prices exceed rural ones by 131%. Urban homes also cost at least double those in the countryside across five other provinces: Álava, Salamanca, Cáceres, Valladolid and Palencia.

According to a study by idealista, 25% of Spanish homes lack any heating system. The study is based on data from property listings for sale and rent in November. The warmest regions, less exposed to extreme weather, have the highest share of homes without heating.

Three-bedroom flats were the fastest-selling property type in Spain during Q3 2025, with 37% sold in under a month. Studios and one- and two-bedroom flats also sold quickly, while larger homes with four or more bedrooms took longer, varying across major Spanish markets.

The Madrid property market continues to attract interest from American buyers, according to idealista’s data on listings over recent quarters. In 2025, a notable shift has emerged in the language of searches from the US, with Spanish speakers (47.2%) now overtaking English (46.3%) as the dominant language for the first time.

Demand pressure on the existing supply of rental housing is becoming increasingly acute in the suburbs of major cities.

Foreign buyers remain highly active in Spain’s housing market, with over 70,000 transactions recorded in the first half of 2025 alone, according to the latest notary data.

Legal uncertainty from the Housing Act and the failed Land Act has defined Isabel Rodríguez’s tenure, as she pushes for more public housing and defends rent intervention.

The share of household income needed to rent a property in Spain stands at 36% of the average family’s total net income, while for buying it is significantly lower at 25%, excluding the savings required to secure financing, according to a study by idealista based on data from Q3 2025.

The sale of homes without vacant possession is becoming increasingly common in the Spanish property market, now accounting for 3% of all properties for sale in the country, according to a study by idealista based on listings in its database for Q3 2025.

Soaring rents and fierce competition are pushing many people towards room rentals. On average, 22 prospective tenants compete for each listing on idealista, though demand remains lower than for full homes. Palma (65) and San Sebastián (62) record the most enquiries per room, while among the largest markets, Barcelona (22) edges ahead of Madrid (20).

Rental properties in the Balearic Islands (29.1%), Alicante (27.4%), Málaga (25.7%) and Santa Cruz de Tenerife (21.9%) are seeing strong international demand, each accounting for more than 20% of total rental interest in Q1, according to a study by idealista.

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.

Forty-nine of Spain’s 50 provinces have at least one home listed on idealista for over €1 million, though the distribution is highly uneven. Málaga, the Balearic Islands, Madrid, Alicante, Barcelona and Girona alone account for 84% of all such properties. In many provinces, with fewer than 22 listings, their share is so small that it rounds down to 0.0%.

Thirteen per cent of the homes sold through idealista in the second quarter of 2025 found a buyer in less than a week, according to a study by idealista, Southern Europe’s leading real estate marketplace.

The property market in southern Europe’s three key countries continues to rise, with varying trends. According to idealista’s June report, Spain has hit record highs in both sales and rentals. Portugal remains the most expensive overall, though its price growth is more moderate. In Italy, sales prices are still below the peaks of over a decade ago, but rental prices have surged to historic highs, even surpassing Spain. We take a closer look at the property and rental markets in the main cities and top tourist areas of all three countries.

Spain’s housing stock experienced a significant 16% annual decline, marking the steepest drop in recent years. The shortage is driven by rising demand, slow construction rates, and economic pressures, intensifying concerns over affordability and housing availability across the country.

Over the past year, the percentage of household income needed for housing rose to 23% for purchases and 36% for rentals, according to an idealista study based on Q1 2025 data.