New data shows that foreigners who live full-time in Spain spend roughly the same on housing as Spanish nationals, whereas non-resident homebuyers splurge far more on average on Spanish properties, particularly certain nationalities.
New data from the General Council of Notaries reveals that in the second half of 2025, fewer foreigners bought properties in Spain, although at higher prices than ever before.
It reveals that while international demand continues to be key, with almost one in five sales going to foreign buyers, spending has increased, particularly among non-residents.
Between July and December 2025, foreigners bought 66,629 homes, 4.4 percent fewer than the previous year. This accounted for 18.4 percent of all transactions.
The average cost paid by foreign buyers reached €2,479/m2, which is 5 percent higher than a year earlier and the highest ever recorded by notaries.
Non-resident foreigners spent the most with an average of €3,242/m2 (+5.8 percent). This was followed by foreign residents in Spain at an average of €1,963/m2 (+9.4 percent) and Spanish nationals at €1,839/m2 (+7.4 percent).
The data shows that non-resident foreigners spent an average of €1,403/m2 more than those who live here full time.
Interestingly, there wasn’t such as big difference in the amounts spent between resident foreigners and Spaniards.
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Non-residents from Sweden paid the most for second homes in Spain at the end of last year with an average of €3,654/m².
This was followed by those from Germany who spent an average of €3,559/m², then those from the US who spent €3,501/m². Coming in fourth place were Norwegians who spent an average of €3,085/m².
Buyers from Switzerland, Poland, Ireland, Belgium, Italy, France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Russia also exceed the average of €2,479/m².
Non-resident foreigners are concentrating their property purchases in Valencia (40 percent of the total), followed by Andalusia (25.3 percent), Catalonia, Murcia, and the Canary Islands.
This shows that they still prefer prime popular areas, coastal destinations, and markets with strong international appeal. This makes sense since the majority of them would be using the property as a holiday home or an investment.
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Dutch non-residents bought the most number homes at 12.6, followed by Germans with 11.9 percent, the British were in third place with 11.5 percent and Belgians in fourth with 8.1 percent.
Germans tend to prefer the Balearic Islands, while Murcia and Andalusia are dominated by the Brits.
When it came to resident foreigners, the majority bought in Catalonia – 9,004 transactions which was 21.5 percent of the total. This was followed by Valencia with 8,796 transactions or 21 percent, then Andalusia with 6,164 transactions – 14.7 percent.
Madrid came in fourth place with 9.6 percent of resident foreigners buying there, then Castilla-La Mancha with 5.6 percent. Those who bought in the Canary Islands made up 4.4 percent of the market and those in Murcia made up 4.2 percent.
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Spain is currently experiencing one of its biggest housing crises, with millions of people struggling to find and afford to buy a property.
Foreigners are often partly blamed for the situation, with locals complaining and protesting about affluent buyers from overseas driving up housing prices, speculating and turning properties into tourist accommodation.
This latest data shows that foreigners who reside in Spain are not those outspending Spaniards, but rather wealthy overseas buyers who don’t live full-time in the country – an important distinction.
The figures also somewhat justify the 2025 proposal by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to slap a 100 percent tax on Spanish property purchases by people who reside outside of the EU, effectively doubling the price for these buyers.
So far this hasn’t happened, but there are still ongoing debates.
Both the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands have also considered putting limits on foreign buyers.
The Balearic Islands wanted to specifically put limits on non-residents and put a proposal forward, but ultimately it was rejected in parliament in April of this year.
The Canary Islands have been talking about the same for several years now and even formally asked the EU to allow them to place restrictions on foreign buyers. There are currently ongoing discussions about who exactly would face these property limits – all foreigners or just non-resident ones.
