Real estate investment in Spain is on track to close the first half of 2026 with more than €10 billion, 50% more than in the same period of 2025. According to JLL estimates, this would be the highest half-year volume in its historical series.
The figure confirms the interest generated by the Spanish market, but it requires a nuanced reading. This is not a homogeneous recovery across all segments, but growth driven by large institutional transactions, especially in the so-called living segment, and by increasingly demanding asset, location and strategy selection.
Living accounts for almost half of investment
The main driver of the half-year period is living, a category that brings together different forms of accommodation and housing: residential rental, affordable housing, student accommodation, flex living and certain healthcare-related assets.
According to JLL, this segment is expected to exceed €4.375 billion and account for around 44% of all real estate investment forecast for the half-year period.
This volume responds to structural trends, although not all subsegments share the same drivers. In rental housing, household growth, the reduction in average household size and the shortage of supply in the main metropolitan areas all play a role. In student accommodation, university mobility and the shortage of beds are key factors. In senior living assets, demographic ageing and the deficit of places are decisive.
Nor is all living progressing at the same pace. Investment in student accommodation is expected to decline despite demand remaining high, partly due to the lack of available product. By contrast, flex living, affordable housing and healthcare-related assets are expected to record higher activity.
This highlights an important difference: solid demand does not always translate into more investment. For a transaction to exist, there must also be available assets and alignment between buyer and seller expectations.
A record driven by large portfolios
Aggregate growth is shaped by several large transactions. Among the most notable are Brookfield’s acquisition of more than 5,000 homes for over €1 billion and HOOPP’s purchase of another residential portfolio valued at more than €600 million.
These two transactions alone would add up to more than €1.6 billion. Therefore, the half-year record does not necessarily mean that the number of transactions, activity across all regions or overall market liquidity have increased in the same proportion.
Scale is becoming increasingly important in institutional capital decisions. Large portfolios make it possible to deploy significant investment volumes, gain presence quickly and manage assets through specialised platforms.
Offices, retail and logistics are also advancing
Investment activity is not limited to residential. Offices could reach around €1.9 billion during the first half of the year, more than double the figure recorded a year earlier, according to JLL.
Here too, large transactions influence the result. The sale and purchase of the Estel building in Barcelona for around €385 million represents a significant share of the volume. In addition, capital continues to prioritise quality buildings, established locations and assets with scope to improve efficiency or update rents.
Retail is expected to reach around €1.675 billion, up 11%. Shopping centres would account for more than half of investment, while retail parks would continue to attract interest due to their operational performance and the potential for portfolio consolidation.
In logistics, volume would reach approximately €779 million. Sales of large portfolios would represent around 40% of the total, reflecting a sector in which scale and location continue to be decisive.
Hotels remain important despite lower volume
The hotel sector would remain one of Spain’s major real estate investment markets, although with a different performance.
JLL estimates a volume of around €1.431 billion, 14% lower than in the same period of the previous year. Even so, hotels would represent around 14% of all national investment.
The strength of tourism, Spain’s position as an international destination and the depth of its hotel market continue to attract capital. But the decline in volume is a reminder that strong operating fundamentals do not guarantee investment growth every year. Asset availability, valuations and the structure of each transaction also shape activity.
What international capital is seeing
The published data does not specify what percentage of the more than €10 billion comes from foreign investors. However, JLL identifies Spain as a strategic market for international capital due to a combination of factors:
- comparatively solid economic growth;
- demand linked to population and household growth;
- supply shortages in certain segments;
- the strength of tourism;
- and the variety of available assets and strategies.
In addition, compared with other more mature or saturated European markets, Spain offers opportunities both in stabilised assets and in development, refurbishment or repositioning transactions.
Capital, however, is not buying “Spain” as a whole. It is looking for assets capable of responding to real demand, established locations, platforms with scale and projects with a clear path to value creation.
An attractive market, but increasingly selective
The expected record does not eliminate the risks. Investment remains conditioned by the cost of financing, geopolitical uncertainty, the lack of quality product and the gap that may exist between buyers and sellers.
In some segments there is demand, but few available assets. In others, opportunities depend on whether the entry price makes it possible to absorb renovations, update rents or develop new supply without compromising returns.
Maintaining momentum during the second half of the year will therefore depend on whether the planned transactions materialise and whether suitable product continues to be available.
Spain attracts capital, but not indiscriminately
Exceeding €10 billion in six months would strengthen Spain’s position within the European real estate market. But the figure does not describe uniform expansion.
Growth is being driven by large portfolios, the prominence of living and significant activity in offices, retail, logistics and hotels. At the same time, capital remains selective and focuses its interest on transactions backed by structural demand, scale and execution capacity.
The appeal of the Spanish market does not lie only in how much capital it can attract, but in whether it has the assets and projects capable of turning those fundamentals into sustainable results.
