Walter Finch
SPAIN’S housing market continues to set records and shoot for the stars.
It has expanded 9.6% year-on-year and 16.62% since just January 2023, according to the latest house price data from Idealista.
Continual breakneck growth has propelled it to outstrip peaks last seen during the 2007 housing bubble.
The average house in Spain now costs €2,209 per square metre, 4.4% higher than in June 2007, when it peaked at €2,115.
While the current trajectory is only upwards, from June 2007 it tumbled to €1,890 in February 2010.
Prices rallied briefly in 2012, before Spain was clobbered by the euro crisis, which sent the country into a deep economic malaise.
But since a trough of €1,491 in September 2016, Spain’s house prices embarked on an impressive recovery, one that went into overdrive in January 2023.
House prices in Madrid have exploded by 18.8% in a year to a nosebleed-inducing €4,830 sqm, while in Barcelona they are up 10.8% to €4,597.
San Sebastian is the most expensive city overall, at €5,631 sqm, while Zamora is the cheapest at €1,171.
However, it is in fact the crisis-hit city of Valencia with the highest rise, where prices have increased by a fifth (20%), followed closely by Malaga (19.6%), Santander (18.1%) and Alicante (16.7%).
Of the provinces, all but four provinces recorded higher prices, with the Canary Islands duo of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Las Palmas seeing the steepest rises of 16.4% and 16% respectively.
Other fast growers include the Community of Madrid (15.4%), the Balearic Islands (14.8%), Alicante (13.9%), Malaga (12.7%) and, curiously, the Region of Murcia (14.9%).
READ MORE: Spain’s long-term rental housing market has shrunk by a third – but Malaga is bucking the trend
The four provinces where house prices are actually falling? House hunters may fancy taking a peak at Ourense (-3.2%), Córdoba (-2.5%), Badajoz (-1.1%) and Ciudad Real (-0.7%).
The Balearic Islands continue to be the most expensive autonomous region at €4,663 sqm, followed by the Community of Madrid (€3,638 sqm), the Basque Country (€3,015 sqm), the Canary Islands (€2,767 sqm) and Catalonia (€2,443 sqm).
Bargain seekers should check out Castilla-La Mancha (€937), Extremadura (€977 sqm) and Castilla y León (€1,199 sqm).
Away from the main cities the rise in prices for homes near us in the Vega Baja area is much more modest. New built homes here are offered at ridiculous prices that will not be achieved on resale.