Are US and Brit Home Buyers Skipping Spain?
Amid anti-foreigner rhetoric, SPI analysis finds sharp drop in non-EU real estate purchases. .
The latest report from Mark Stücklin at Spanish Property Insight suggests the Spanish government’s campaign against foreign property buyers is starting to have an impact. New data from the Spanish Notaries Association shows home purchases in 2025 by non-resident buyers from outside the EU — think Brits and Americans — were down 17% year-on-year.
“That’s a striking drop in a segment that had previously been relatively resilient,” Stücklin writes in his latest newsletter.
Overall, the number of foreign home purchases in 2025 was relatively unchanged from 2024 — down 0.6% — thanks to a small increase in EU buyers, who are apparently still happy to buy their home in the sun. In contrast, the sharp drop in non-EU buyers stands out, in large part due to the timing, notes Stücklin, who has been a leading analyst of the Spanish property market for a couple of decades.
The decline coincides with Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s high-profile attacks on “speculators” and the influence of foreign buyers, including much-discussed proposals for a 100% purchase tax or an outright ban on foreign purchases. None of these initiatives have gained traction, but they were widely reported and now the data raises an obvious question: “did the message land?” Stücklin asks.
“That’s a striking drop in a segment that had previously been relatively resilient...”
Other factors could be affecting sales, including higher prices, limited supply and a general global craziness. “But political signaling shouldn’t be dismissed,” Stücklin writes. “When a government openly questions whether you should be allowed to buy property at all, it’s not unreasonable to hesitate—or look elsewhere. “
(On an anecdotal level, it definitely seems like there has been a shift in the market It’s interesting how many people I hear lead their international property destination list these days with Portugal, not Spain.)
Stücklin goes a step further and argues that the government’s efforts to curb foreign buyers is going to have little affect on goal of making housing more accessible to Spanish citizens. Non-EU buyers account for little more than 11% of the foreign market, and barely 2% of the total Spanish housing market, he notes. And the non-EU buyers primarily purchase in the coastal areas and the urban centers. They are not competing for homes with working class Spanish citizens.
“If the goal was to address Spain’s housing crisis, this changes nothing,” Stücklin writes. “Even if [the non-EU] segment disappears entirely, it won’t make homes more affordable where it matters most.”
Read the full article and find more info on the latest property trends here.