Pricing Reality Returns: Insights from the latest Survey Spain index
Spain’s property market is evolving once again, and this time, realism is taking centre stage. The latest Survey Spain Index reveals growing tension between what sellers hope to achieve and what buyers are willing to pay. After several years of buoyant post-pandemic demand, the market is beginning to steady, shaped by stricter financing conditions, cautious developers, and increasingly value-conscious buyers.
What’s emerging is a more measured, transparent environment, one where accurate pricing and grounded advice matter more than ever.
Asking vs. Buying Price: Widening gap
In 2025, the national average asking price rose, yet the Survey Spain Buyer Discount Index, anecdotal evidence and agent commentary suggest that realistic pricing is increasingly critical to closing deals, with a growing spread between asking and actual sale prices. Buyers are pushing back against inflated prices, especially in coastal areas, leading to more price negotiations and downward adjustments.
Foreign demand: Still strong, but shifting
Foreign purchases remain robust, with over 71,000 homes bought by foreigners in the first half of 2025, a 2% year-on-year increase. However, the share of foreign buyers in total transactions has dipped slightly to 19.3% from 20.3%. This suggests a shift toward resident foreign buyers rather than speculative investors. The end of Spain’s “Golden Visa” and tougher tax rules for non-residents may be cooling some of the heat, especially in premium markets. Also, it could be that the smart or easily realisable money threatened by potential Russian disruption and expansion in Eastern Europe has already been invested with only the newly created being available now.
Developer & seller sentiment: Growing caution
Developers are facing rising construction costs and labour shortages, while housing completions lag behind demand. This has led to selective price reductions, especially for properties that have been sitting for a while. Sellers are increasingly aware that overpricing leads to stagnation, particularly when advised by newer agencies promising unrealistic returns in order to gain the instruction.
Agency practices: Overpromising vs. Market Reality
Criticism of “new” agencies on the Costas may be accurate. Some win listings by inflating price expectations, only to face awkward conversations later with their clients whose lives have been on ‘hold’ for months. The market is rewarding agents having deep local knowledge, realistic pricing strategies, and strong client relationships. Slick marketing and AI visuals may attract attention but only expertise and experience close the deal.
Ceiling or Correction?
Rather than a hard ceiling, the Costas’ property markets may be entering a phase of recalibration. The exuberance of post-pandemic buying is giving way to more grounded expectations, especially if financing tightens and as buyers become more discerning.
The trends reflected in the Survey Spain Index point not to a collapse, but to a recalibration, a necessary cooling after years of exuberance. With foreign demand still strong, construction lagging, and supply tightening in key coastal regions, Spain’s fundamentals remain healthy.
But success in 2025 and beyond will depend on clarity, honesty, and experience.
· For sellers, that means pricing to the market, not above it.
· For agents, it means guiding clients with data and insight.
· And for buyers, it’s an opportunity to act confidently in a market that is, at last, finding its balance.
