Foreign property market shrinks by 15.4% in the Balearics

Transactions by foreign buyers account for 6.4 per cent of all property sales recorded in the islands.
Overall, the purchase of private-sector homes by foreign buyers fell by 13 per cent year-on-year in the first half of 2026, to 62,327 transactions, marking the sharpest decline since the first half of 2020. Despite the fall in transactions, the average price paid by these buyers rose by 9.4 per cent, to 2,644 euros per square metre.

Transactions carried out by foreigners accounted for 18.3 per cent of all private housing sales between January and June, compared with 19.2 per cent in the same period of 2025 and 20.3 per cent in 2024, continuing the downward trend observed since then.

The decline was most pronounced amongst non-resident foreigners, whose purchases fell by 18 per cent year-on-year to 22,940 transactions – the lowest volume since the first half of 2021. These transactions accounted for 36.8 per cent of those carried out by foreign buyers.

Meanwhile, resident foreigners accounted for the remaining 63.2 per cent, with 39,387 transactions, 9.7 per cent fewer than in the first half of 2025. The study reveals that, although they fell short of the all-time high reached in the first half of last year, their property transactions remained at high levels compared with the historical trend.

The report also notes that the volume of transactions carried out by foreigners fell again in the first half of 2026 compared with the previous half-year, among both residents and non-residents. In the latter group, the downward trend has continued since the peak recorded in the first half of 2022.

The average price per square metre of properties purchased by foreigners stood at 2,644 euros in the first half of the year, 9.4 per cent higher than in the same period of 2025. Non-resident foreigners continued to pay the highest prices, with an average of 3,493 euros per square metre, 11.8 per cent higher than a year earlier. In the case of resident foreigners, the average price reached €2,102, representing a year-on-year increase of 9.8 per cent.

Meanwhile, domestic buyers paid an average of €1,971 per square metre, 8.7 per cent more than in the first half of 2025. Furthermore, the difference between the prices paid by non-resident and resident foreigners reached a new all-time high, with the former paying on average 1,391 euros per square metre more than the latter, compared with a gap of 1,210 euros in the same period of the previous year.

By autonomous community, the sale of private-sector homes to foreigners fell in most of them. The only exceptions were Castilla-La Mancha, where transactions rose by 4.4 per cent, and Extremadura, with an increase of 3.3 per cent.

The sharpest falls were recorded in Cantabria, down 20.5 per cent; the Canary Islands, down 20.3 per cent; and the Community of Madrid, down 19.7 per cent. These were followed by the Balearics and the Valencian Community, both with declines of 15.4 per cent; the Basque Country, down 14 per cent; Galicia, down 12.8 per cent; Andalusia, down 12.7 per cent; and Murcia, down 12.2 per cent.

The declines were more moderate in Catalonia, where property sales fell by 9 per cent; Castile and León and Asturias, both down by 8.2 per cent; and Navarre, down by 5.3 per cent. In La Rioja and Aragon, the volume of transactions remained virtually stable, with falls of 0.8 per cent and 0.2 per cent, respectively.

In terms of regional distribution, the Valencian Community accounted for the highest number of property transactions carried out by non-resident foreigners, with 9,250 transactions, representing 40.3 per cent of the total for this group. This was followed by Andalusia, with 5,800 transactions (25.3 per cent); the Canary Islands, with 2,046 (8.9 per cent); Murcia, with 1,780 (7.8 per cent); and Catalonia, with 1,777 (7.7 per cent). The Balearics accounted for 6.4 per cent of transactions in this group, and Madrid for 1.5 per cent.

Among resident foreigners, Catalonia led the market with 8,516 sales, accounting for 21.6 per cent of the total, followed by the Valencian Community with 8,196 (20.8 per cent); Andalusia with 6,007 (15.3 per cent); and the Community of Madrid with 3,912 (9.9 per cent).

The average price paid by foreign buyers rose in 15 of the 17 autonomous communities. Cantabria recorded the largest increase, at 23 per cent, followed by Asturias, at 22.3 per cent; Extremadura, at 16.4 per cent; the Valencian Community, at 15.6 per cent; and the Community of Madrid, at 15.4 per cent.

Double-digit rises were also recorded in Murcia (15.1 per cent); the Basque Country (12.8 per cent); Castile and León (12.7 per cent); Castile-La Mancha (12.5 per cent); and Andalusia (11.5 per cent).
Growth was more moderate in the Canary Islands, at 9.7 per cent; the Balearics, at 9.3 per cent; Galicia, at 5.2 per cent; Catalonia, at 3 per cent; and Aragon, at 0.4 per cent. The only declines were recorded in La Rioja, where the average price fell by 5.5 per cent, and Navarre, with a fall of 4.8 per cent.

By nationality, Moroccan buyers accounted for the highest number of transactions in the first half of the year, with 4,960 sales, representing 8 per cent of the total number of transactions carried out by foreign buyers. They were followed by British buyers, with 4,541 transactions (7.3 per cent); Italians, with 4,109 (6.6 per cent); Romanians, with 3,974 (6.4 per cent); and Germans, with 3,907 (6.3 per cent).

Together, these five nationalities accounted for 34.6 per cent of property purchases made by foreigners. Furthermore, the group of non-EU buyers classified under the ‘Other non-EU’ category carried out 7,822 transactions, representing 12.5 per cent of the total.

The report highlights differences between residents and non-residents, as amongst the latter, the most common nationalities were Dutch, accounting for 12.6 per cent of transactions; German, at 11.8 per cent; British, at 10.4 per cent; and Polish, at 8.1 per cent.

Among foreign residents, Moroccan buyers led the way, accounting for 12.4 per cent of the total for this group, followed by Italians, with 9.2 per cent; Romanians, with 9 per cent; and British nationals, with 5.5 per cent.

Year-on-year, the only increases were in sales by citizens of Venezuela, up 10.2 per cent, and Colombia, up 7.4 per cent. The sharpest declines were seen among buyers from Russia (down 26.2 per cent); China (down 26.1 per cent); the United States (down 22 per cent); Bulgaria (down 21.6 per cent); Belgium (down 21.3 per cent); and the United Kingdom (down 21 per cent).

In terms of the highest prices, Americans paid the most, at 3,948 euros per square metre, followed by Sweden at 3,839 euros; Germany at 3,763 euros; Switzerland at 3,760 euros; and Norway at 3,588 euros.

Citizens of Poland, Belgium, Ireland, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Russia and the United Kingdom also paid amounts higher than the average for foreign buyers, which stood at 2,644 euros per square metre. Conversely, the lowest average prices were recorded by buyers from Morocco, at 801 euros per square metre; Romania, at 1,439 euros; Ecuador, at 1,531 euros; and Colombia, at 1,604 euros.