Despite record home sales in Spain in 2025, new data shows that the number of purchases by non-resident foreigners fell last year, suggesting that the threat of limits on foreign buyers could be dissuading many potential second home owners.
The number of foreign property buyers in Spain dropped slightly in 2025, but remained at high levels, according to data published this Thursday April 9th, by the General Council of Notaries.
The figures revealed that foreign buyers purchased a total of 138,254 homes in 2025, compared to 139,433 in 2024, a decrease of 0.8 percent.
During the second half of 2025 compared to the second half of 2024, there was an even bigger decrease of 4.4 percent year-on-year.
Although this figure is the third highest in the historical series, the slight drop occurred in a record year for the real estate market in Spain, in which more homes were sold than before the housing bubble burst, with nearly 735,000 units sold.
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The main difference in the figures, however, is between resident foreigners and non-resident foreigners. Homes purchases by foreign residents in Spain did increase, rising from 81,186 to 85,473 transactions, going up by 5.3 percent.
Those purchases by non-residents, however, fell by 9.4 percent, from 58,247 to 52,781.
This explains why the overall figure of purchases by foreigners – including resident and non-resident – dipped slightly last year.
In Valencia, one of the biggest markets for foreign property buyers representing 28.45 percent of the total, purchases by foreigners fell by 5.2 percent. The decline was even greater in the Balearic and the Canary Islands, where the drop was 8.3 and 9 percent respectively. Purchases by foreigners also fell by 9.4 percent in Madrid and by 3 percent in Navarre.
This wasn’t the case in all regions though. The number of homes bought by foreigners in 2025 rose in several places. In Asturias, purchases by foreigners surged by 18.3 percent, followed by Castilla-La Mancha with 18.1 percent, Castilla y León with 17.6 percent, Extremadura with 12.4 percent and Galicia with 11.3, according to data from the General Council of Notaries.
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The general decline in non-resident foreign buyers could be due to several reasons. One of the most notable is that Spain’s Golden Visa was scrapped in April 2025.
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The Golden Visa previously gave residency to non-EU nationals who purchased a property in Spain valued at over €500,000.
Another reason could be more vocal animosity of locals towards foreign home buyers, with many blaming them for the property crisis. This was seen during countless demonstrations last year.
Thirdly, there have also been moves by national and regional governments (Canary and Balearic mainly) to limit foreign homebuyers in Spain.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced in early 2026 that he would slap a 100 percent tax on Spanish property purchases by people who reside outside of the EU, a proposal which would double the property price for them if it came into law (it hasn’t).
Other parties have called for similar actions. Spain’s far-right party Vox also announced they want to propose their own plan for a “dissuasive tax regime” to stop property purchases by foreigners.
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Although none of these plans have actually been put into force yet, they have been widely reported, and it may have swayed foreigners to invest or buy a holiday home elsewhere.
While the number of foreigners buying property in Spain may have slowed, the average price paid by foreign buyers continues to rise.
Data shows that in the second half of 2025, the average price they paid reached €2,479 per square metre, 5 percent more than a year earlier. On average, foreign buyers spend 35 percent more than the national average on property here.
