European Home Sales 2025–2026: Where the Housing Market Is Growing Fastest

The European property market experienced a notable recovery in 2025, with home sales increasing in almost every country on the continent. Find out which countries broke records for growth rates, why Croatia remains an exception, and what the first data for 2026 shows

Protect your investment – ​​consult a real estate lawyer before any transaction

ORDER CONSULTATION

After several years of uncertainty, the European real estate market has finally caught its breath. In 2025, home sales increased in 17 of the 20 countries for which Eurostat provided data, and the decline in the cost of loans was the main catalyst for this movement. The most noticeable recovery was demonstrated by France, where the number of transactions exceeded one million, while Slovenia broke the record for growth rates - almost 30% per year.

We will tell you about the main changes in the European real estate market in this article.

Buying or selling real estate abroad is a process in which it is important not to make mistakes at any stage: from checking documents to signing the contract.

A real estate lawyer at VisitWorld will help you legally formalize the transfer of ownership and protect you from possible risks and fraudulent schemes. Such a specialist understands local legislation and takes on all the legal intricacies of the transaction. This saves you time, money and nerves.

Find a proven real estate lawyer at VisitWorld today.

Why is the European real estate market booming right now?

According to Mikko Kalmet, real estate consultant at Global Property Guide, the main drivers of buying and selling activity are the availability of mortgages, interest rates, household incomes and overall consumer confidence. When these indicators improve in unison, the market reacts quickly - which is exactly what happened in 2025, when Euribor rates stabilized and people who had been putting off buying for years due to uncertainty finally dared to act.

The largest increases were recorded in Lithuania (22.8%), Austria (21.4%) and Belgium (20.2%). Double-digit figures were also shown in Luxembourg, Hungary, the Netherlands, Denmark, France and Portugal.

However, it is worth remembering that in small markets even a small number of additional transactions gives an impressive percentage compared to the previous year, so absolute numbers sometimes tell a completely different story than percentages.

Where is the most expensive place to buy an apartment in Europe – read in this article.

Photo – Euronews

France and Spain – the main market players

Among the continent’s major economies, Eurostat provided complete data only for France and Spain, and both countries confirmed their status as the most active markets in Europe.

France outpaced everyone – over a million homes sold per year, although prices there remained almost unchanged, rising by only 0.1% year-on-year between the first quarters of 2025 and 2026.

The Spanish market, on the other hand, grew in both years in a row: sales rose by 5.4%, and the latest data shows that in 2025 more than 705 thousand purchase and sale transactions were registered there – the highest since 2007, with an average price per square meter that also broke a historical record. That is, both activity and value are growing simultaneously in the Spanish market, which analysts consider a sign of healthy demand, not overheating.

We tell you about housing and rental prices in the EU in 2026 at the link.

Visit World services for tourists, migrants, and expats: Insurance | Guides | Legal advice

Croatia is an exception against the background of a general rise

Not all countries moved in the same direction. Croatia became the only market where sales fell for four consecutive years, and for the second time in a row, declining in both 2024 and 2025. Paradoxically, it is here that rents are growing the fastest in Europe - by 39.1% in just one year, while housing prices have risen by 14.3%. The explanation for this is not pan-European trends, but internal factors: limited construction, tourist pressure on coastal cities and the high cost of constructing new housing. A slight decrease in sales also occurred in Bulgaria (-2.5%) and Poland (-1.1%), but the scale of their decline does not compare with the Croatian dynamics.

The best countries for real estate investment in 2026 are collected at the link.

What does 2026 show?

Data for the first quarter of 2026 confirm: the trend of rising housing prices in the European Union does not stop - prices increased by 5.1% year-on-year. The leaders were Portugal (+17.8%), Bulgaria (+14.8%) and Slovakia (+14.4%), while in France and Finland, housing prices, on the contrary, decreased slightly. Rents also continue to increase in price almost throughout the continent, and again the largest jump is shown by Croatia. Analysts explain this by a persistent shortage of new supply: the high cost of construction materials and labor is holding back developers, while demand - especially in regions attractive for tourism and work - remains high.

Photo – Euronews

What should buyers pay attention to?

For those planning to buy real estate in Europe, the current market picture provides several guidelines:

- Markets with high demand and limited supply (Spain, Portugal, Croatia) will continue to increase in price faster than the average European rate;

- Stabilization of lending rates has made the purchase more affordable than two or three years ago, but the cost of housing itself is increasing in parallel;

- Small markets like Slovenia or Lithuania can offer interesting investment opportunities, although the low absolute number of transactions also means lower liquidity.

The European real estate market has entered a recovery phase, but unevenly: some countries are recording records of activity, while others, on the contrary, continue to stagnate under the pressure of local factors. Those considering buying or selling housing abroad should carefully monitor the dynamics of a specific country, and not focus on the pan-European average.

The growth of housing sales in Europe also means an increase in the number of international transactions, where the buyer and seller may be in different jurisdictions and may not even speak the same language. In such a situation, the support of a qualified real estate lawyer becomes not an option, but a necessity.

A specialist will check the legal purity of the property, help you deal with local taxes and fees, and also represent your interests in case of disputes with the other party to the transaction. If you are planning to buy an apartment in Spain, a house in Portugal or an investment property in one of the countries with an active market, legal support significantly reduces the risk of losing money due to formal errors or gaps in documents.

Start searching for a real estate lawyer on VisitWorld right now and secure your deal.

Reminder! Buying property abroad in 2026 will give foreigners access to a residence permit, visa-free travel and stable rental income. Minimum thresholds, tax rates and restrictions vary significantly from country to country – from $150,000 in Georgia and Montenegro to €800,000 in the premium zones of Greece. We have already talked about the best countries for buying property by foreigners, current Golden Visa conditions, rental profitability and tax regimes.

Photo – Magnific