Catalonia’s second-hand property market has reached a new milestone, with resale prices finally eclipsing a record set during the 2007 housing bubble.

According to the Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE), the resale property index hit 190.78 in the final quarter of 2025.

This surpasses the Q2 2007 peak of 188.10 for the first time.

It comes as property prices across Spain skyrocketed by 12.9% in 2025 – the steepest climb in 18 years and nearly double the initial forecasts.

So does this mean Catalonia and Spain are headed for another property market crash? 

Property experts believe current conditions are different and do not signal an impending collapse.

For example, CaixaBank Research predicts that property prices will continue to grow by 5.7% throughout 2026.

This is a marked downturn in growth. 

But it means experts still expect the property market to outcompete the rate of inflation.

So what are the conditions driving this unprecedented growth in housing prices?

This sustained growth is underpinned by a supply crisis where demand for housing is reportedly four times higher than the available inventory

According to a Fotocasa report, 29% of Spanish residents are actively looking for a new home. But only 7% of residents have a house up for rent or sale.

“We are facing the greatest imbalance between housing supply and demand in the entire historical record,” María Matos, Director of Studies and spokesperson for Fotocasa, told La Razón.

“This mismatch is causing strong upward pressure on prices, which are already near record highs in both the sales and rental markets.”

For many years, housing developments have been unable to meet this demand.

According to CaixaBank Research, Spain has accumulated a deficit of 750,000 homes over the past four years. New properties have fulfilled only 20% of total demand in that period.

The lack of demand is having a knock-on effect on the buying process itself.

According to recent reports, only 52% of buyers who purchased a home in 2025 even attempted to negotiate the asking price. This was the lowest figure on record.

So why has Catalonia been one of the first regions to break the 2007 price ceiling?

Girona continues to act as a primary magnet for international interest, with one in four buyers in the province now being foreign. This 26% foreign buyer share in Girona sits well above the Catalan average of 15.1% and the Spanish national average of 13.8%.

But Girona cannot match the foreign demand seen by other regions in Spain – Alicante, for example, recorded that 42.9% of buyers were foreign in Q4 of 2025.

So what else could Catalonia have that other regions don’t?

According to Idealista, Girona is seeing a kind of “rural renaissance” where 59% of demand is now focused on properties on rural land. This is the highest percentage of demand for rural properties of any province in Spain.

Prices for rural properties are therefore growing fast and contributing to the overall total.

Catalonia maintains a unique inventory of over 22,967 listed masias and rural houses, with 55% of that volume concentrated in Girona.

So could this be what has pushed prices higher in Catalonia in general.

Angels Sabater, co-director of Cottage Properties, told the Olive Press that investors have been aggressively “moving capital” from urban rentals in Barcelona into rural tourism projects.

“A number of investors told us they removed money from American funds because of renewed uncertainty in the US, and they wanted to reinvest locally in Catalonia,” Sabater said.

The situation is compounded by new rental caps in Barcelona, where the rental stock has collapsed by 90% in the past five years.

Cottage Properties – which specialises in masias, country houses and luxury properties – said that Spanish national clients drove €22 million of the firm’s €25 million in total transaction value last year.

“In 2025 we’ve seen Catalan buyers become much more prominent in the market for masias and country houses,” Sabater added.

“If you look back, 2024 felt closer to a 50–50 split between local and international demand. But this year has been totally different.”

She gave the example of a Catalan investor from Barcelona who purchased a masia (a Catalan country estate) valued at over €2 million as both a family home and a long-term investment.

Planning permission allowed for the construction of a second property on the plot, which they intend to rent out as a rural tourism establishment.

As 2026 progresses, the market demonstrates remarkable resilience, with experts forecasting that the mix of supply deficits and local investment will prevent any imminent price correction.

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