Canary Islands lead Spain in property purchases by foreigners, data shows

The Canary Islands now leads Spain as the area of the country with the highest proportion of foreigners buying property, a new report from Spain's Association of Registrars has revealed.

The report shows that in the last quarter, from April to June 2025, the Canary Islands led the way with nearly 30 percent (29.98 percent) of all home purchases in the archipelago by foreigners, surpassing both the Balearic Islands (28.42 percent) and the Valencian Community (28.13 percent).

The national average stands at 14.1 percent.

This comes amid several years of rising property prices in Spain, both in the rental and purchase market, and efforts by the Spanish government to clamp down on foreign property buyers.

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Many of the anti-tourism protests of 2024 were rooted in the property market, with the transfer of residential property in the short-term tourist accommodation sector hitting supply and sending prices soaring.

However, the stats suggest that despite state intervention the proportion of foreigner property buyers in the Canary Islands is only going in one direction. Spanish daily El Diario notes that "the islands have reached the top spot in this ranking after a considerable surge in recent months."

Compared to the first quarter of the year, the percentage of foreigners buying property in the region increased by 5.35 percent — going from 23.93 percent to 29.98 percent, unprecedented growth far outpacing other regions of the country.

Only Murcia, with an uptick of 2.3 percent, came close.

According to registrar data, the Canary Islands saw 6,017 homes sold between April and June this year, of which around 1,800 were purchased by foreigners.

In the province of Las Palmas, a total of 3,189 property sales were registered. Of these, 24.83 percent were purchased by foreigners (around 800 in total) while in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, 2,828 were recorded, 35.72 percent were bought by non-residents.

The report points to tourism as a major driver of property purchases: "Tourism intensity is the key factor in achieving a greater or lesser relative weight in home purchases by foreigners, with the leading provinces corresponding to Mediterranean provinces or islands with these characteristics."

The report also identifies how a growing number of foreign buyers in the Canary Islands has had a clear impact on property prices.

According to the report, the average price of housing in Spain is €2,251 per m/2. However, the average cost of purchases made by EU citizens amounts to €2,845. If they are from outside the EU but reside in Europe, the value is slightly lower, at €2,668, but still well above the national average.

The report does not provide more specific nationality data but historically in Spain the major buyers are Brits, Germans and Dutch.

In the Canary Islands, the price of housing is €2,782 per m/2, the fourth highest in the country, ahead of other regions such as Catalonia (€2,693) and behind Madrid (€4,067), the Balearic Islands (€3,946) and the Basque Country (€3,220).

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