SPAIN is witnessing the most dramatic property price explosion in its recorded history, in great news for homeowners – but devastating for first time buyers.
The average cost of a second-hand home has rocketed by an unprecedented 14.8% in just 12 months to reach €2,498 per square metre.
Nowhere has the impact been more brutal than in Madrid, where the average 100 square metre home has leaped from €464,000 to a staggering €572,300 in one year – an eye-watering increase of €108,300.
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The Madrid market has led this historic surge with a jaw-dropping 23.3% price explosion, representing the steepest annual increase ever recorded and far outstripping even the property boom years of the mid-2000s.
Barcelona has not escaped, with city centre prices climbing 10.2% to €4,991 per square metre, adding roughly €46,500 to the cost of an average apartment.
Across Catalunya, prices have risen 9.7%.
Coastal regions beloved by expats have been hammered by the surge.
Malaga has recorded a punishing 15.6% increase, while Alicante has jumped 14.3%. Valencia has seen a 19.6% price explosion.
The Balearic Islands remain Spain’s most expensive region at €5,068 per square metre, with Palma prices surging 17.2%.
The Canary Islands have seen increases of 14.8%, with Santa Cruz de Tenerife worst hit at 22.9% – the highest increase of any Spanish capital.
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Even historically cheaper regions have been caught in the maelstrom. Andalucia has recorded a 15.9% increase, while the Valencian Community has seen prices rocket 17.4%. Murcia has experienced a savage 17.6% jump.
The surge has created a new price hierarchy with San Sebastian now topping the table at €6,283 per square metre, followed by Madrid at €5,723 per square metre.
Only seven provinces bucked the trend, with fire-struck Ourense recording the sole significant decline at -5.4%.
The historic surge represents a perfect storm of record tourism levels, chronic housing shortages, an influx of international buyers and low interest rates.
The data, compiled from hundreds of thousands of property listings by idealista, represents the single biggest annual surge since records began and shows no signs of abating as Spain’s property market moves definitively beyond the reach of middle-class international buyers.
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