Foreign buyers bounced back strongly in Q2, lifting first-half sales to a record high and putting annual demand within touching distance of 100,000 purchases.

The latest figures from the Spanish Land Registrars show there were 51,627 home purchases involving foreign buyers in the first half of 2026, up 4% on the same period last year and the highest H1 total on record.

The recovery was driven by a strong second quarter. Foreign demand slipped 3% year-on-year in Q1 but rebounded by 11% in Q2, with more than 26,800 purchases in the quarter.

That turnaround also lifted the rolling 12-month total to 99,410 sales, up almost 3% on the previous quarter and just 590 transactions short of the symbolic 100,000 mark.

The Registradores also report that foreign buyers accounted for 15.98% of all home sales in Q2, the highest share in their historical series.

The Dutch are almost level with the British

The British remained Spain’s biggest foreign buyer group in the first half, but only just.

British buyers accounted for an estimated 3,567 purchases in H1, down 10% year-on-year, whilst Dutch buyers reached 3,489, up 12%.

The race tightened dramatically in Q2, when the British completed 1,843 purchases compared with 1,830 by the Dutch—a gap of just 15 transactions. If current trends continue, the Netherlands could overtake the UK as Spain’s biggest foreign buyer market later this year, bringing to an end decades of British dominance.

Germany remained third despite a modest 2% decline, whilst Italy (+11%), Poland (+11%), France (+3%) and Ireland (+6%) all posted growth. Belgium was the notable exception, with purchases down 16% in the first half, whilst Russian demand continued its long decline.

Foreign buyers outperform the domestic market

The contrast with the domestic market was equally striking.

Spanish purchases fell 3% in the first half to 294,403, whilst foreign demand increased 4% to 51,627. As a result, foreign buyers increased their share of the market to around 15% in H1, up from 14% a year earlier.

Just a few months ago, foreign demand appeared to be losing momentum. The Q2 figures tell a different story. Not only did overall foreign demand return to growth, but even the British and German markets stabilised, whilst the Dutch continued to power ahead.

What happens next?

The big question is whether Q2 marks the start of another sustained expansion or simply a particularly strong quarter.

With foreign demand now almost back above 100,000 annual transactions and several key markets gathering momentum again, the balance of evidence suggests the slowdown at the start of the year may have been a false alarm rather than the beginning of a downturn.

The other trend worth watching is the changing nationality mix. The British are still number one—for now—but the Dutch are closing fast, and could soon become Spain’s largest foreign buyer group for the first time.