Investment funds in Spain step up bets on major property deals in 2026
The lack of transparency over property ownership makes it hard to track the share held by big landlords and new players, or to get a real-time picture of the market.
Spanish investment funds are increasing their investments in major property deals for the year 2026. This surge in activity is despite the lack of comprehensive information on how property ownership is distributed in the country, particularly for large-scale landlords who own more than ten homes or 1,500 m² of residential floorspace.
According to the national land registry, the majority of housing is anonymized, leaving many types of housing such as owner-occupied homes, empty properties, and tourist apartments outside of the analysis.
While tracking property transactions in 2026 shows the most active players in the Iberian market, they have not overtaken traditional players such as Blackstone, CBRE IM, Renta Corporación, Cerberus, Ares Management, and Santander & CaixaBank. In 2026, investment in rental housing has seen a significant rise, with a 376% increase year-on-year, reaching 2.934 billion euros in the first half of the year alone.
This figure may seem at odds with the slowing of home sales, but the two indicators represent different aspects of the market. While sales statistics count the number of transactions, investment volume represents the money spent on acquiring homes and property portfolios, so a few large deals can significantly boost the total.
One notable deal this year is Fidere, a SOCIMI real estate investment trust specializing in buying public and rental housing, which completed the largest deal with 1.05 billion euros. Canadian group Brookfield acquired their portfolio of 47 buildings and over 5,000 rental homes in March. In May, Azora agreed to buy 1,200 rental homes in Barcelona for over 350 million euros, while Barings will buy 305 affordable homes in Los Cerros and Valdebebas for over 70 and 56 million euros, respectively.
Regional governments and town councils have also granted concessions on public land to these companies, often for periods ranging from 45 to 75 years. Examples include Culmia, controlled by US fund Oaktree, which handed over lot 3 of Madrid's Plan Vive to German asset manager DWS in a 255 million euro deal.
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