INVESTORS worldwide are racing to snap up a stake in Spain’s housing market, experts have revealed, as the country’s property sector continues to boom.
Adolfo Favieres, managing director for Spain at investment corporation BlackRock, said the country has become ‘the star of Europe’ for real estate investment.
Speaking at a panel discussion during Madrid’s Real Estate Exhibition, the MD added that Spain had ‘never had a moment like this.’
Taking part in the same panel, Felipe Perez of Praemia REIM Spain said his company had given him a ‘mandate’ to invest in Spain a year and a half ago, while another speaker described the Spanish market as an ‘absolute priority.’
The experts noted that investment was pouring in from the US, Asia and the Middle East — an unprecedented wave largely driven by Spain’s expanding property sector.
“When you talk about Spain in your investment committee, you see smiling faces,” Favieres said.
“The landscape has completely changed,” he added.
“Italy is the new Germany, France is the new Italy.
“The rest of Europe is upside down, and we are clearly the star of Europe in our sector.
“We will see how long it lasts, but we have to make the most of it.”
Spain’s property boom has seen house prices rise by 12.9 per cent year on year in the first quarter of 2026, according to Spain’s National Statistics Institute (INE).
Meanwhile, prices increased by an average of 12.7 per cent across 2025 – the biggest annual jump since 2007, INE data also showed.
The surge has been driven by soaring demand, strong population growth and a chronic shortage of homes, with the Bank of Spain warning that the country was roughly 600,000 homes short in 2025.
As developers race to build more properties, prices continue to rise, creating fresh opportunities for investors.
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The boom, however, has also deepened a housing crisis that is locking young people and vulnerable groups out of the market in many of Spain’s largest cities.
The rental market has become equally strained. Rents have doubled over the past decade, while wages have failed to keep pace, leaving many households struggling to afford housing.
The crisis has now emerged as one of Spain’s biggest political issues, with hundreds of thousands of people taking to the streets last year to protest against rising rents, tourist apartments and the shortage of affordable homes.
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