How to Buy Property Abroad as a Foreigner in 2026: Country Rules and Pitfalls

Buying property abroad as a foreigner is legal in most popular destinations, but "legal" covers everything from unrestricted freehold ownership to structures where you technically own a lease, not the land underneath it — and the residency benefits attached to buying have shifted hard in the last two years.

Spain closed its property-for-residency route entirely in 2025

Spain formally abolished its real estate Golden Visa program in April 2025, ending the route that had let non-EU buyers gain residency through a EUR 500,000+ property purchase. Foreigners can still buy property in Spain freely — there is no restriction on foreign ownership itself — but purchasing real estate no longer confers any residency benefit on its own; buyers wanting to live in Spain still need to qualify through a separate route like the Non-Lucrative Visa or Digital Nomad Visa based on income, not property ownership. This is one of the more consequential recent changes in the space and a common source of outdated advice still circulating online.

Greece kept its Golden Visa but restructured the thresholds by zone

Greece's Golden Visa remains active but now applies different investment minimums depending on location: the highest-demand zones — central Athens, Thessaloniki, Mykonos, and Santorini among them — require EUR 800,000, while most other regions sit at a EUR 400,000 threshold. A lower EUR 250,000 tier still exists in some cases, generally tied to renovating a listed or older building rather than buying new construction, reflecting Greece's push to steer investment toward property renovation rather than new coastal development. Given how zone-dependent these numbers are, confirming the exact threshold for a specific property's location before making an offer, rather than relying on a single headline figure, is essential.

Turkey's citizenship-by-investment route still runs through real estate at $400,000

Turkey continues to offer citizenship, not just residency, in exchange for a qualifying real estate purchase of at least $400,000, with a minimum three-year holding period before the property can be resold without jeopardizing the citizenship grant. This remains one of the fastest routes to a second passport tied to property investment anywhere in the world, though buyers should account for Turkish property transfer taxes and appraisal requirements — Turkey requires an independent government-approved valuation confirming the property meets the threshold, which has occasionally been a source of delay when a buyer's agreed price and the official appraisal don't align.

Thailand structures foreign ownership around leasehold, not freehold land

Foreigners generally cannot own land outright in Thailand. Condominium units are the exception — foreigners can hold freehold title on condo units, provided foreign ownership within that specific building does not exceed 49% of total floor area, a quota that active buildings track and can close off once filled. For houses or land-attached property, the standard workaround is a long-term leasehold structure (commonly 30 years, sometimes renewable) rather than outright ownership, or a Thai company structure — the latter carries real legal risk if it is structured purely to circumvent ownership rules without genuine business activity, and Thai authorities have scrutinized nominee company arrangements in recent years.

Georgia remains one of the most open markets for foreign buyers

Georgia (the country) allows foreigners to purchase most types of property, including land in many cases, with minimal restriction relative to its regional neighbors — no minimum investment threshold, no citizenship requirement, and a genuinely fast registration process through Georgia's National Agency of Public Registry, commonly completed within a day for straightforward transactions. This openness is a large part of why Georgia shows up repeatedly on lists of accessible property markets for foreign buyers, though it is worth noting that easy purchase does not by itself confer residency — Georgia's residency-by-investment route is a separate application tied to a higher property value threshold than the purchase itself requires.

Continue with these closely related guides:

How Expats Can Invest in Real Estate Remotely in 2026 — Overlapping theme (housing & accommodation).
How to Rent an Apartment as a Foreigner: What Landlords Actually Want in 2026 — Overlapping theme (housing & accommodation).
How to Find an Apartment Abroad Before You Arrive (2025 Guide) — Overlapping theme (housing & accommodation).
Co-Living Abroad in 2026: Selina, Outpost, and the Best Options for Nomads — Overlapping theme (housing & accommodation).

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