Buying a home in Spain

Buying a property in Spain in 2026: will there be more room for negotiation?

Last updated on 18.10.2026

Anyone looking for a home in Spain wants to know whether it is a good time to buy. Can you afford to wait a little longer? Is there room for a lower offer? Or will that one suitable property still slip out of reach quickly, even now?

The news that foreigners are buying fewer homes in Spain seems, at first glance, to be a positive development for house hunters. After all, fewer purchases may point to less competition.

Yet the recent figures tell only part of the story. Transaction numbers are falling, while the average price per square metre is rising. To understand what this means for your search, you need to look beyond the nationwide percentage.

The sharpest decline is among buyers living outside Spain

In the first six months of 2026, 62,327 home purchases by foreign buyers were recorded in Spain. That is 13% fewer than in the same period in 2025 and the steepest decline since the first half of 2020.

Their share of home sales also fell: from 20.3% in the first half of 2024 and 19.2% a year later to 18.3% in 2026. Purchases by foreign buyers therefore still account for almost one in five transactions.

However, that broad category encompasses different types of buyers. A family that has lived in Spain for years and is looking for a larger main home has different needs from someone buying a holiday apartment from the Netherlands.

That distinction is reflected in purchasing trends. Foreigners living in Spain accounted for 63.2% of all transactions involving foreign buyers. Their purchases fell by 9.7%. Among non-residents, who live outside Spain, the decline was considerably greater, at 18%.

For Dutch house hunters, that latter group is particularly relevant. Among purchases by foreign non-residents, Dutch buyers held the largest share in the first half of 2026: 12.6%, followed by Germans and Britons. Dutch interest therefore remains clearly visible in the figures.

These statistics do not reveal why individual Dutch buyers purchase a property. A future move, personal holiday use and investment are all possible reasons, but the purchase figures do not tell us how much weight each motive carries.

What do the figures tell us about Valencia and the Costa Blanca?

If you are looking on the Costa Blanca, the figures for the Valencian Community are relevant. In this autonomous region, the number of home purchases by foreign buyers fell by 15.4% compared with the first half of 2025. At the same time, the average price per square metre for those purchases rose by 15.6%.

These figures cover the entire region. They therefore cannot be applied directly to the Costa Blanca, let alone to a particular coastal town or neighbourhood.

That matters a great deal for your own search. A move-in-ready apartment within walking distance of amenities appeals to different buyers from a detached house requiring extensive renovation. Even within a single municipality, supply, interest and room for negotiation can vary considerably.

A regional decline in transaction numbers therefore does not tell you how much negotiating room you have with a particular seller. To assess that, you need to look at the property and its direct competition.

A higher average price calls for a closer look

Nationwide, foreign buyers paid an average of €2,644 per square metre in the first half of 2026. That is 9.4% more than a year earlier.

The differences between buyer groups are substantial. Non-residents paid an average of €3,493 per square metre, compared with €2,102 for foreign residents of Spain and €1,971 for Spanish buyers.

That does not mean a comparable property has become exactly 9.4% more expensive for a foreign buyer. An average is also affected by the mix of properties sold.

Suppose fewer basic apartments are sold during a given period, while a relatively larger share of sales involves properties in expensive locations. The average price per square metre may then rise even if the values of individual properties barely change.

Conversely, comparable properties may genuinely have become more expensive. Both developments can also occur at the same time. These averages alone do not show which effect has the greater influence.

The careful conclusion is therefore that the average price per square metre was higher among recorded purchases by foreign buyers. Assessing how the value of the home you are considering is changing requires a comparison with similar properties in the same area.

Fewer sales do not settle the question of where prices will move next

The decline in transaction numbers is not limited to purchases by foreign buyers. According to Spanish notarial figures, total home sales in July 2026 were 11.1% lower than in July 2025. The average price per square metre that month, however, was 7.7% higher.

There are several possible explanations for that combination. Buyers may be withdrawing because properties are beyond their budgets. There may be too little suitable supply. Sellers may also be holding out for prices that interested buyers are unwilling to pay, preventing a sale.

These are possible explanations; the figures cited do not establish which is decisive.

Nor do they provide sufficient grounds to predict a general fall in prices. For that, you would also want to know, for example, how available supply is changing, how long comparable properties remain on the market and the prices at which they eventually sell.

At the same time, rising averages offer no guarantee that prices will continue to increase. Anyone predicting a definite direction on the basis of a single six-month period is asking more of the figures than they can tell us.

How to apply this market news to your own search

As a buyer, you benefit most from information that matches your budget, property type and preferred location. Four points can help turn nationwide reporting into practical guidance:

• Compare with properties that have actually sold. Asking prices show what sellers hope to receive. Recent sale prices for comparable properties provide a firmer basis for assessing an offer.

• Look at competing properties on the market. Are several suitable alternatives available? If so, your starting position is different from a situation in which very few properties meet your needs.

• Investigate the property's sales history. How long has it been on the market, and has the asking price changed? This gives you a basis for questions to the seller, although a long time on the market does not, in itself, prove that there is substantial room for negotiation.

• Work from your own financial position. Assess the purchase price alongside additional costs, any maintenance required and your plans for the property. A purchase should still make sense if the market develops differently from what you expect.

The most useful question during a viewing therefore remains very specific: how does the asking price compare with what similar properties in this location actually sell for?

That is where negotiation begins. Nationwide figures provide context; the quality of your comparison determines how well you can justify your offer.