VALENCIA. The notable presence of foreign home buyers is also accompanied by greater purchasing power compared to local residents who manage to acquire a home in the Valencian Community. Specifically, foreigners pay an average of 20,000 euros more than Valencians for a property in the Community. According to the Notarial Association of Valencia, in the first quarter of 2025 the average amount paid by Spanish residents was 147,719 euros, compared to the 167,012 euros paid by buyers of other nationalities.
In the same period, foreign demand has left a significant change in the ranking of nationalities in the province of Valencia: Ukrainians have overtaken users from Romania, so that they manage to position themselves as the second group that acquires the most properties in the region, only behind Italians. The latter carried out 254 operations between January and March 2025, while those from Ukraine closed 204 and Romanians, 175. The weight of Ukrainians has been increasing since the Russian invasion of Ukraine broke out, leading to an exodus of their population to other countries on the European continent. From 2023 to 2024, the purchase of real estate by these citizens has soared by 32.17%.
Foreign buyers keep the pulse on the Valencian residential market, concentrating 28.13% of all operations carried out in the second quarter, according to data from the Association of Property Registrars. Although this percentage represents a slight decrease in absolute terms compared to the previous quarter, it is striking that it doubles the national average, where foreigners account for 14.1% of transactions in the real estate market. With 28.13% of presence, the Community is the third autonomous region with the highest foreign demand, behind the Canary Islands (29.98%) and the Balearic Islands (28.42%). In Alicante, that share shoots up to 45%, driven by European demand.
In the case of the capital of the Turia and metropolitan area, foreign demand also has an influence on the rental market, where more and more digital nomads from northern Europe can be seen seeing in Valencia a city "that has it all", according to María Matos, director of Studies at Fotocasa. In response to the arrival of digital nomads, more and more real estate developers and investors are opting to build homes focused on this sector, where common spaces predominate to promote socialisation and services are provided that, in short, make housing more expensive and further stress the market.
However, despite the strong presence of foreign buyers, the profile that predominated in the purchase of housing in the Valencian Community in the second quarter (latest data available from the College of Registrars) is that of a man over 40 years of age and with a high socioeconomic level, according to Matos. "51% of those we have surveyed earn more than 2,500 euros per month," says the expert, who also warns about the masculinization of new owners: "It had always been balanced, but now 54% of operations are carried out by men, compared to 46% by women. In 2022, the distribution was practically 50%-50%," he adds.
In terms of financing, the average mortgage debt in the region grew by 2% in the second quarter, to 125,117 euros, with an average contract term of 24.8 years. The monthly fee stood at 607 euros, 29.2% of the wage cost, which reflects a further deterioration in accessibility indicators. The average interest rate on new loans was 3.17%, and almost two out of three (65.9%) were signed at a fixed rate, below the national average, which set a new all-time high of 72.28%.