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Something is shifting in Spain's property market. Cash purchases, long a significant feature of the Spanish housing landscape, have fallen to their lowest level in five years. In the first five months of 2026, around one in four homes was bought without a mortgage. A year ago, that figure was closer to one in three.

 

The numbers behind this are straightforward. Between January and May, 288,176 properties changed hands in Spain, while 213,777 mortgages were signed for home purchases over the same period. That leaves roughly 74,400 homes bought without a loan, representing 25.8% of all transactions, down from 32.5% in the same period of 2025. You have to go back to 2021 to find a similarly low cash purchase rate.

 

This sits against a broader backdrop of the Spanish mortgage market having its strongest year in nearly two decades in 2025, and a market in which foreign buyers, many paying cash, have played an increasingly significant role.

 

Ricardo Gulias, CEO of RN Tu Solución Hipotecaria, explains what's driving the shift. "We're seeing buyers with savings, with a previously sold home, or with family support who, a few years ago, would have reached their goal without a mortgage, but today need to finance a significant portion of the purchase. It's not that savings have disappeared; it's that the price has significantly reduced their purchasing power," he says.

 

The average mortgage granted in May reached €174,866, up 9.7% on the same month last year. The cost of borrowing to buy in Spain has risen dramatically over the past decade, with mortgage costs jumping 63% over ten years, yet rates remain relatively attractive by historical standards, sitting at around 2.98% in May.

 

That combination is prompting some cash-rich buyers to reconsider. Joaquín Fervari of Trioteca points out that taking a mortgage even when you can afford not to can make financial sense. "I take advantage of my mortgage, and I use the rest of the money to generate returns in another type of investment," he explains.

 

Mortgage lending is starting to ease, though. After months of double-digit growth, new loans showed a very slight year-on-year dip of 0.1% in May, the first decline in nearly two years. Gulias reads this as healthy rather than alarming: "The market is moderating, but it's not shutting down. What's changing isn't so much the desire to buy, but rather the actual ability to find a home that fits the price, location, and financing requirements."

 

 

 

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