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MarketInvesting in Spanish property from abroad in 2026: cities, figures and rules
Published 2 June 2026·9 min read·By The Alveo team
Spanish home values are up more than 12% in a year, and foreign buyers have never carried so much weight. Here are the official figures for the cities where we have offices, and the rules that matter when you invest from abroad.
The Spanish market in 2026
The average appraised value of a home reached €2,355 per m² in the second quarter of 2026, the highest since the series began in 1995 and 12.5% up on a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Housing. The INE price index, which tracks completed sales, rose 12.2%.
The Bank of Spain puts the average gross rental yield at 2.9%. Adding price growth, the total return on housing reached 15.1% over the last twelve months.
Foreign buyers made 15.98% of home purchases in the second quarter of 2026, a record according to the Spanish land registrars.
The cities where we have offices
Price per m²: average appraised value of a home, Ministry of Housing, second quarter of 2026. Share of foreign buyers: Colegio de Registradores, same quarter.
Who buys in Spain
Among purchases by foreigners in the second quarter of 2026, British buyers came first (6.99%), ahead of Dutch (6.94%) and German buyers (6.11%). Americans accounted for 1.79%.
According to Spanish notaries, non-residents made 36.8% of foreigners' purchases in the first half of 2026, at €3,493 per m² on average.
Buying from abroad
You need an NIE, the foreigner's identification number, which you can request from the Spanish consulate in your country. The notarial deed records how you paid, and cash is limited to €10,000 for a private non-resident buyer.
Above €500,000, a purchase by a non-resident counts as foreign investment and must be declared: the Spanish notary files the declaration for you.
Alveo Search guides you from the property search to the signing, and Alveo Finance advises you on financing it.
Purchase tax by region
On a resale home, the buyer pays transfer tax (ITP), set by each region. On a new build, the buyer pays 10% VAT plus stamp duty on the deed (AJD).
Long-term letting
The 2023 housing law lets regions declare stressed rental areas, where a new lease cannot exceed the previous rent. Of the regions where we have offices, only Catalonia has declared them, Barcelona included; Madrid, the Valencian Community and Andalusia have none.
Alveo Rent manages your property for you: tenant selection, lease, rent collection and upkeep.
Holiday lets, city by city
Since 3 April 2025, letting a home to tourists requires the prior approval of the owners' association by a three-fifths vote. Each city also has its own rules:
Taxes for a non-resident owner
If you live in the European Union, your Spanish rental income is taxed at 19% after expenses. Elsewhere, in the UK or the US for instance, the rate is 24% on gross rent. A property you do not let creates imputed income of 1.1% or 2% of its cadastral value, taxed at the same rates.
You declare this income on form 210. Rental income is grouped by year: rent received from October 2026 is declared between 1 and 20 April of the following year. The town hall also collects IBI, the annual property tax, at 0.4% to 1.1% of the cadastral value.
No specific tax applies to non-EU buyers today: the bill tabled in 2025 lapsed when the Spanish parliament was dissolved on 6 October 2026.
Selling
When a non-resident sells, the gain is taxed at 19%, and the buyer withholds 3% of the price towards that tax. Alveo Properties handles the sale of your property, from valuation to completion.
Sources
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