Foreign purchases in Spain: −13% in the first half

The essentials

1. 01

   On 15 October 2026, data from Spain's General Council of Notaries showed a 13% fall in home purchases by foreign nationals in Spain in the first half of 2026, to 62,327 transactions. These account for 18.3% of open-market home sales, compared with 19.2% a year earlier and 20.3% in 2024.[1]

2. 02

   Within this broad-based decline, Moroccans remain the leading foreign nationality buying in Spain, with 4,960 transactions in the first half of 2026, ahead of British and Italian buyers. It is non-resident purchasers who are bearing the brunt of the contraction.[2]

3. 03

   In Marrakech, the local market analysis published on 16 October 2026 by the operator Omnia Business highlights that price differences between neighbourhoods conceal markets with quite distinct dynamics. Beyond the purchase price, rental potential and running costs are presented as the decisive variables for returns.[3]

4. 04

   On 16 October 2026 in Casablanca, CIH Bank and Yakeey unveiled a property hub built into the bank's mobile app, under the theme "Time to Keys". The journey covers searching for a home, running simulations, valuing and listing a property, and tracking and financing the project.[4]

What it changes for you

For a foreign buyer, these figures serve as a benchmark: in Spain, non-resident demand contracted by 13% in the first half of 2026 and its share of open-market sales has fallen for the second year running. In Marrakech, the reasoning remains local: the return on a villa or a riad is built neighbourhood by neighbourhood, setting the purchase price against genuine rental potential and running costs (management, maintenance, service charges), rather than against a market average.

Our reading

We read these data as a methodological reminder rather than a market signal: comparing two Mediterranean destinations means drilling down to neighbourhood and segment level. For a project in Marrakech, we recommend first putting figures on expected rental income and annual costs, then weighing that result against the asking price.

Daily summary produced automatically from the public sources cited below and published in the site's seven languages. It informs; it does not replace an adviser's view of your situation.