The UK is the top foreign buyer in Spain, driving up house prices

The first quarter of 2025 figures, released on Thursday, show that house prices have hit a record in Spain.

Foreign buyers accounted for 14% of 181,625 transactions, with people from the UK leading the way.

The figures come from the Association of Registrars which clocked average prices at €2,226 per m2 by the end of March.

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House prices recorded a year-on-year increase of 8.1% with new properties coming in at €2,467 per m2 while second-hand homes recorded €2,153.

Among Spain’s 17 regions, the highest average prices were in the Madrid Community (€3,955 per m2): the Balearic Islands (€3,822); the Basque Country (€3,193) and the Canary Islands (€2,625).

The splits by province showed the biggest prices in Madrid and Guipuzcoa (€3,847) and the Balearic Islands and Malaga (€3,046).

By capital, the highest average costs were in San Sebastian (€5,824), Madrid (€4,716), Barcelona (€4,538), Palma (€3,735) and Bilbao (€3,129).

Comparing the last quarter in 2024 to the current quarter, the property sales increased by 5.3%. This is the highest since the third quarter in 2007 when the annual increase was 19.9%.

The foreign buyers accounted for 14.1% of the total market in the third quarter, a slight decrease from 14.2% the previous quarter.

More than 25,600 sales have been made with non-Spanish purchasers, led by the British (2086), Germans (1606), Dutch (1530), Moroccans (1505), French (1298), Romanians (1221), Italians (1221), and Belgians (1208).

The European Union was the largest source of purchases by nationalities, followed by the rest Europe, Africa, Asia, and South America.

The Balearic Islands (30%) were the most popular, followed by the Valencian Community(28.3%), Canary Islands (24.6%), Murcia (20.4%), Catalunya (16.6%), and Andalucia (14.2%).

In the first three months of 2025, there were 119.026 mortgages for housing. This is the third-highest quarterly result in the first quarter since 2011.

The average amount of a mortgage granted per home purchase and sale was €156,128 in the first quarter.