Foreign buyers completed 62,327 home purchases in Spain in the first half of 2026, 13% fewer than in the same six months of 2025, according to the notarial statistics the Consejo General del Notariado published on 15 October 2026. It is the largest fall since the first half of 2020, and it takes the foreign share of the market down to 18.3% from 19.2% a year earlier and 20.3% in 2024.
Those two halves of the market are moving apart. Buyers who live outside Spain, the second-home end of the foreign buyers segment, fell 18% to 22,940 purchases, the lowest half-year volume since 2021. Foreigners who have moved to Spain fell 9.7% to 39,387. At the same time the average price foreigners paid rose 9.4% to a record €2,644 a square metre. For an agent the practical question is which side of that split a client sits on, because the answer changes both the comparables and the negotiation.
What Spain’s Notaries Recorded for the First Half
These figures come from the deeds every Spanish notary signs, collected by the Centro de Información Estadística del Notariado and published twice a year for this breakdown. It covers free-market homes in the first half of 2026 against the same period of 2025. Sales of free-market homes came to 341,283 in the six months, down from 372,617 a year earlier, and Spanish nationals bought 278,956 of them, a fall of 7.3%. The foreign segment of the Spanish property market therefore fell noticeably faster than the domestic one.
That foreign total has now declined for two half-years in a row. idealista/news reported on 15 October that it is the biggest drop since the pandemic, and the notaries’ own table shows the slide: 69,743 purchases in the first half of 2024, 71,625 in the first half of 2025 and 62,327 now. Its share of the market followed the same path, from 20.3% in 2024 to 19.2% in 2025 and 18.3% in the first half of 2026. Within the foreign total, non-residents are now 36.8% of purchases, against 39.1% a year earlier.
Where the Foreign Buyer Drop Bites Hardest
Almost every region recorded fewer foreign purchases. Only two grew: Castilla-La Mancha, up 4.4%, and Extremadura, up 3.3%. Sharpest of all were Cantabria at 20.5%, the Canary Islands at 20.3% and the Community of Madrid at 19.7%, followed by the Balearic Islands and the Comunidad Valenciana, both down 15.4%, the Basque Country down 14% and Andalucía down 12.7%. Cataluña fell 9%, while La Rioja and Aragón were effectively flat.
- Cantabria: 260 foreign purchases, down 20.5%
- Canary Islands: 3,694, down 20.3%
- Community of Madrid: 4,248, down 19.7%
- Balearic Islands: 2,390, down 15.4%
- Comunidad Valenciana: 17,446, down 15.4%
- Andalucía: 11,807, down 12.7%
- Cataluña: 10,293, down 9.0%
Volume is still concentrated on the coast, which is why a percentage fall and a shrinking business are not the same thing. In the Comunidad Valenciana alone there were 17,446 foreign purchases in the half-year, and 9,250 of the 22,940 sales to non-residents, which is 40.3% of that national total. Andalucía took 5,800 non-resident purchases, 25.3%, the Canary Islands 2,046 and the Region of Murcia 1,780. Among foreign residents, Cataluña led with 8,516 purchases, ahead of the Comunidad Valenciana on 8,196 and Andalucía on 6,007.
What Foreign Buyers Now Pay per Square Metre
Prices went the other way. Foreign buyers paid an average of €2,644 a square metre, 9.4% more than in the first half of 2025 and the highest figure in the notaries’ series. Non-residents paid €3,493, up 11.8%, foreign residents €2,102, up 9.8%, and Spanish nationals €1,971, up 8.7%. That gap between non-resident and foreign-resident buyers widened to €1,391 a square metre from €1,210 a year earlier, another record.
House prices by region are almost the mirror image of the volumes. Prices paid by foreign buyers rose in 15 of the 17 regions, and ten of those rises were in double digits: Cantabria 23.0%, Asturias 22.3%, Extremadura 16.4%, the Comunidad Valenciana 15.6%, the Community of Madrid 15.4%, the Region of Murcia 15.1%, the Basque Country 12.8%, Castilla y León 12.7%, Castilla-La Mancha 12.5% and Andalucía 11.5%. Only La Rioja, down 5.5%, and Navarra, down 4.8%, recorded lower prices.
| Measure, first half of 2026 | Figure |
|---|---|
| Home purchases by foreign buyers | 62,327, down 13.0% |
| Foreign share of all free-market home sales | 18.3%, from 19.2% a year earlier |
| Purchases by non-resident foreigners | 22,940, down 18.0% |
| Purchases by foreign residents | 39,387, down 9.7% |
| Average price paid by foreign buyers | €2,644 per square metre, up 9.4% |
| Average price paid by non-residents | €3,493 per square metre, up 11.8% |
| Average price paid by Spanish nationals | €1,971 per square metre, up 8.7% |
| Non-resident against resident price gap | €1,391 per square metre, a record |
The Nationalities Behind the Foreign Buyer Numbers
Moroccan buyers made the most purchases of any foreign nationality, 4,960, or 8.0% of the total, ahead of British buyers on 4,541 and 7.3%, Italians on 4,109, Romanians on 3,974 and Germans on 3,907. Those five nationalities together accounted for 34.6% of foreign purchases. Among non-residents the mix is different again, with Dutch buyers the largest group at 12.6% of those operations, ahead of Germans on 11.8%, British buyers on 10.4% and Polish buyers on 8.1%.
Only two nationalities bought more than a year earlier: Venezuelan buyers, up 10.2%, and Colombian buyers, up 7.4%. Russian buyers fell 26.2%, Chinese 26.1%, American 22.0%, Bulgarian 21.6%, Belgian 21.3% and British 21.0%. On price, American buyers paid the most on average at €3,948 a square metre, followed by Swedish at €3,839, German at €3,763, Swiss at €3,760 and Norwegian at €3,588. Lowest average prices belonged to Moroccan buyers at €801, Romanian at €1,439, Ecuadorian at €1,531 and Colombian at €1,604.
A Checklist for Agents Working With Foreign Buyers
Residence status, not nationality, is the first thing to establish, because the two groups are now moving in different directions and paying very different prices. Five checks for estate agents before you quote:
- Ask whether the buyer is resident in Spain. Non-resident purchases fell 18.0% in the half-year and averaged €3,493 a square metre; resident foreign purchases fell 9.7% and averaged €2,102.
- Price the coast rather than the country. The Comunidad Valenciana took 40.3% of all non-resident purchases, Andalucía 25.3%, the Canary Islands 8.9% and the Region of Murcia 7.8%.
- Look at the buyer’s home market as well. British purchases fell 21.0% while Venezuelan and Colombian purchases rose, so a fall by nationality can be a currency or a tax story at home rather than anything in Spain.
- Read the regional price line before you set a price. Foreign buyers paid more in 15 of the 17 regions, and ten of those rises were above 10%.
- Pull a comparable from the notaries’ own portal at penotariado.com, which publishes price and volume data by area from signed deeds rather than from asking prices.
What the Cooling Foreign Segment Means for Prices
Fewer buyers and higher prices are not a contradiction here. That fall is concentrated among non-residents, who pay the most per square metre, while the buyers who remain are increasingly residents buying at the lower end of the market. A seller aiming at the non-resident market is fishing in a pool 18% smaller than a year ago, and the asking price has to sit against what those buyers are actually paying rather than against the top of the local market.
Two cautions on the data. It is a half-year series rather than a live reading, because the notaries publish this split twice a year, so these figures are the freshest that exist for nationality and residence. And it counts free-market homes, so sales of subsidised housing sit outside it. In the second half of 2026 the notaries will publish the next edition, which will show whether a third consecutive decline turns into a trend.
Questions Agents Ask About These Buyer Numbers
These come up as soon as a vendor asks what the foreign market is doing.
How many homes did foreign buyers buy in Spain in 2026?
62,327 free-market homes in the first half of 2026, 13.0% fewer than in the first half of 2025. That is 18.3% of all free-market home sales in the period, against 19.2% a year earlier.
Did foreign buyers pay less in 2026?
No. Foreign buyers paid 9.4% more on average, €2,644 a square metre, the highest figure in the series. Non-residents paid the most, €3,493 a square metre, up 11.8% on a year earlier.
Which nationality buys the most property in Spain?
Moroccan buyers, with 4,960 purchases in the first half of 2026 and 8.0% of the foreign total, just ahead of British buyers on 4,541. Among non-residents the largest single group was Dutch, with 12.6% of those purchases.
Are British buyers still buying in Spain?
Yes, but fewer of them. British buyers made 4,541 purchases in the half-year, 21.0% fewer than a year earlier, and they still pay above the average for foreign buyers. They remain the second largest foreign group by volume and the third largest among non-residents, behind Dutch and German buyers.
Where can I check the notarial data myself?
Its statistics centre at notariado.org carries the release and the full half-year report, and the underlying price and volume series sit at penotariado.com. Both are free, and both are built from deeds signed in front of a notary rather than from listings.
