In 2025, demand from foreigners for buying housing in Spain did not decline. According to the statistical yearbook published by the Association of Registrars, last year they completed almost 100,000 transactions across the country, setting a new all-time record.
In particular, foreign citizens purchased around 97,500 residential properties, which accounted for 13.8% of the total number of purchase and sale transactions. Despite the record absolute volume, the share of foreigners in the domestic market fell by almost 0.8% compared to 2024 and by more than 1% compared to the peak level of 2023, when they accounted for nearly 15% of all transactions.
Leading provinces by share of foreign buyers
The role of foreign buyers is highly significant in a number of coastal provinces in Spain, where at least one in every five homes that changed hands last year was purchased by a foreigner. The ranking is headed by Alicante, where foreigners accounted for 43.29% of purchase and sale transactions completed in 2025. It is followed by:
- Málaga (32.8%)
- Santa Cruz de Tenerife (30.04%)
- the Balearic Islands (29.86%)
- Girona (25%)
- Las Palmas (21.72%)
- Murcia (21.42%)
- Almería (17.47%)
- Tarragona (15.86%)
- Barcelona (14.21%)
At the same time, in Valencia foreigners bought 12.23% of the total housing volume, while in Madrid their share was only 6.9%, and in Seville – 2.5%. Only three provinces posted a figure below 2%: Salamanca, Jaén and Badajoz.
Main foreign home buyers
In absolute numbers, the main foreign buyers in Spain are still the British, although their share is gradually declining. Last year they purchased 7,665 residential properties, which represented 7.97% of the total number of purchase and sale transactions carried out by foreigners. They were followed by:
- Germans (6,273; 6.52%)
- Dutch (6,071; 6.3%)
- Moroccans (5,524; 5.74%)
- Romanians (5,042; 5.24%)
- French (4,918; 5.11%)
Geographical preferences by nationality
New data from the registrars also makes it possible to conclude that each nationality has its own geographical preferences when buying housing in Spain. The British lead in Andalusia, Murcia and the Valencian Community; Germans – in the Balearic Islands; French – in Catalonia; Italians – in the Canary Islands; and Chinese – in the autonomous community of Madrid.
New builds, resale housing and the price peak
According to the registrars, foreigners were slightly less inclined to buy new-build housing (21.54%) than Spaniards (21.76%). If we look at the nationalities leading by the number of purchase and sale transactions, the highest share in resale housing purchases fell to the French (86.42%), Bulgarians (85.34%) and Moroccans (85.28%), while Poles (39.84%), Belgians (34.49%) and Dutch (32.91%) showed the strongest preference for new builds.
The average housing price in Spain in 2025 reached a historic high of €2,284/m2, with Madrid (€4,091/m2), the Balearic Islands (€3,988/m2), the Basque Country (€3,295/m2) and Catalonia (€2,709/m2) leading the way. On average, the price of a property reached €214,581, marking a new record in the series of historic highs. This also led to an increase in the number of transactions involving foreigners in which the value exceeded €500,000.
Thus, the share of housing purchases by foreigners worth more than €500,000 exceeded 12% for the first time; at the same time, four autonomous communities are above this national average: the Balearic Islands (41.79%), Madrid (24.4%), Andalusia (19.22%) and Catalonia (13.15%). Of the total number of foreign buyers of homes priced above €500,000, 53% are citizens of EU countries.
