Home purchases by foreigners fell by 8% in the Balearic Islands last year, but prices hit record highs

Home purchases by foreigners in the Balearic Islands fell by 8.3% last year compared to 2024, totalling 5,601 transactions, according to data from the Consejo General del Notariado. This decline contrasts sharply with the average prices paid in these transactions, which by the end of 2025 had risen to €5,201 per square metre — not only a record high in the islands but also the highest figure in all of Spain.

The figures provided by notaries reflect what high-end real estate professionals are already calling “the end of the champagne bottle”, referring to the slowdown in demand following the post-pandemic boom. This trend is expected to continue, at least during the first half of 2026, due to the economic uncertainty caused by the conflict in Iran.

Year-on-year trend

The 5,601 homes purchased by foreigners in the archipelago in 2025 are not only clearly below the 6,112 recorded in 2024, but the gap is even more pronounced compared to 2022, when 8,220 properties were sold — representing a 31.8% decrease.

It is important to consider the exceptional nature of the 2022 figure. In 2023, purchases had already fallen to 6,066, rising slightly to 6,112 in 2024. However, last year closed clearly below the 6,000 mark.

The 8.3% drop in the islands contrasts with the relative stability across Spain as a whole, where foreign buyers purchased 138,254 properties in 2025 — only a slight decrease of 0.8% compared to 2024.

Record prices

Despite the decline in transactions, the prices paid by foreign buyers in the Balearic Islands have risen significantly. In the second half of 2025, the average reached €5,201 per square metre, up from €4,860 at the end of 2024.

This increase is notable not only in absolute terms but also because property in the Balearics is priced at roughly double the national average. The region stands out as the autonomous community where foreign buyers make the highest investments, reflecting the strong market value of the archipelago.

However, these are average figures. While the islands attract high-net-worth foreign buyers, in other parts of Spain demand is more heavily driven by salaried immigrants.

Prices across the rest of Spain

Compared to the €5,201 per square metre in the Balearics, the next highest region is Madrid at €3,862 per square metre, followed by the Basque Country (€2,862) and the Canary Islands (€2,801). Next come Catalonia (€2,727) and Andalusia (€2,708). At the other end of the scale is Extremadura, with just €688 per square metre.

The difference with the Balearic average is so significant that it more than doubles the national average, which stands at €2,479 per square metre.

For context, the average price paid by foreign buyers in the islands at the end of 2016 was €2,577 per square metre, highlighting the sharp increase in property prices in the archipelago over the past decade.

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