Four cities break the barrier of 6000 euros per sqm

The average price of second-hand housing has fluctuated throughout 2023 until closing at 2,203 euros/m². The figure represents an annual increase of 7.4% and the fourth largest increase in the last 17 years. In this bullish price context, four Spanish towns have reached levels never seen before, placing them well above the national average. These are Ibiza, San Sebastián, Zarautz and Santa Eulària des Riu . All of them have spent 6,000 euros/m2.

The most expensive municipality in the country is Ibiza (Balearic Islands), where buying a home involves an average cost of 6,403 euros/m2. Becoming an owner also requires a great financial effort in San Sebastián (Basque Country), which has a value of 6,120 euros/m2; Zarautz (Basque Country), with a price of 6,029/m2, and Santa Eulària des Riu (Balearic Islands), with 5,997 euros/m2.

“Although the increase in price in the four locations is very significant, the one that stands out the most is the one that occurs in the Ibizan municipalities,” explains the Director of Studies and spokesperson for Fotocasa, María Matos, who considers that these cities have become on the ‘golden mile’ of the islands due to the “great pressure” of tourist purchasing demand, especially foreigners, with greater purchasing power than the local, which has helped prices rise.

Matos believes that it is “a situation that complicates access to housing, since the archipelago practically does not have a stock of public social housing, which further aggravates the access difficulties.” However, he makes it clear that the situation of the municipalities of the Basque Country is different, since the demand is not foreign but national. In these cities, the limited supply of available housing means that the law of supply and demand exerts tension and prices tend to rise.

“However, the lack of sufficient supply is responsible for prices remaining at high levels. Furthermore, at the moment, the price in these municipalities returns us to 2006 levels, prior to the real estate bubble when the cost of housing housing suffered a great warming ,” he adds.

Very close to the astronomical figure of 6,000 euros are the municipalities of La Moraleja, in Madrid (5,700 euros/m2); Calvià, in Mallorca (5,526/m2); Andratx, in Mallorca (5,496 euros/m2); Sant Josep de sa Talaia, in Ibiza (5,304 euros/m2); or Sitges, in Barcelona (5,192 euros/m2).

The Canary Islands lead the rises

The Canary Islands led the increase in prices of used housing at the end of 2023, with an annual increase of 22.5%, followed by the Balearic Islands (16.9%), the Valencian Community (11.6%), Madrid (11.4% ), Navarra (9.8%), Murcia (9.4%) and La Rioja and Andalusia (8.5% in both cases). The most moderate increases occurred in Catalonia (4.4%), Castilla-La Mancha (3.9%), Asturias (3.9%), Galicia (+2.6%) and Castilla y León (2.5%). %).

The Balearic Islands, which has exceeded 3,000 euros per square meter since June 2022, is the most expensive community to become an owner , with 3,847 euros per square meter. Madrid follows, with an average price of 3,767 euros per square meter; Basque Country (3,091 euros/m2) and Catalonia (2,760 euros/m2). These four regions have been leading the price classification since 2014. Regarding the accumulated variation since the maximum price recorded in April 2007 (2,952 euros per square meter), the price of second-hand housing in Spain has decreased by 25 %.

Source: El Economista, January 2024