16 Oct
2017

A bull standing in front of a sunset, symbolizing the tax residence in Spain.

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Last Updated on 18/07/2023 by STEPHANE

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FYI, all our charts are always up to date, but for the up to date comments, check our most recent quarterly update “Quarterly update on the Spanish real estate market“.

Everything you ever wanted to know about the top 20 Spanish Cities real estate markets

Here is a summary of all our resources that we have created in 2017 on the 20 biggest Spanish cities in order to help you be more efficient in your search for your ideal property in Spain. We ended this week our series of 21 papers on all the main Spanish cities with our paper on Castellón. Since March 2017, we wrote 21 specific papers we are very proud of this work!

Have a look at the real estate price evolution for all the 18 Spanish regions since 2005 (€/m²):

As you can see on this chart, Spanish real estate prices (thick orange line) got its lowest price point in early 2014 since the crisis of 2008. Since early 2014, real estate prices are rebounding and reached on average 1530€/m² as of June 2017. If you look at prices in general, yes we can talk again about growth but if you compare those to the levels of 2008 or to European real estate prices, you can still find bargains. Furthermore, you surely noticed that most of the prices are lower than the prices of early 2005, as it is the case for Spain when prices were at 1680€ per square meter.

The market in Spain is divided into two groups since 2014: the regions where prices are increasing again: mainly, Barcelona, Madrid and the Balearic Islands and all the other regions where the prices have stabilized or are increasing modestly.

The five regions with prices above the national average are the Basque Country (2397€/m² as of June 2017), the Community of Madrid (2264€/m² as of June 2017), the Balearic Islands (2208€/m² as of June 2017), Catalonia (1834€/m² as of June 2017) and Ceuta and Melilla (1668€/m² as of June 2017).

It is really easy to buy a property in Spain but, because you are not on the ground, because you don’t know the market and because you need to check your property in order to avoid any nasty surprise, we advise you not to do it alone. We are foreigners and Spanish residents who bought properties in Spain and we developed a network of reliable partners in order to assist foreigners in their purchases of a Spanish property.

Don’t forget, if you are buying in Spain as a foreigner, you could have two different motives:

Pleasure
Investment

or the two combined. Depending on what is (are) your own motivation (s) your criteria will be different.

90% of foreigners are looking for beaches, sea and sun…

Rember our infographic on why people are buying a property in Spain:

So it’s not a surprise to have as the top 4 buying destinations Cities in Spain for foreigners: Alicante, Malaga, Barcelona and Madrid (the exception, but yes it’s the capital and the 3rd biggest city in Europe).

The top Regions where foreigners are buying real estate are the Valencian Community, Andalucia, Catalonia and the Canary and the Balearic Islands. Madrid is the last Region. Have a look at our infographic with the data of 2016. Foreigners bought 77500 properties, i.e. 17% of all the transactions that took place in Spain during the last year.

After those quick reminders on the Spanish market, let’s finally get to the core of our paper: find all resources sorted per city with the evolution of the price per square meter of all the different cities for the last 20 years!

All you ever wanted to know about the 20 biggest Spanish cities from Alicante… to Zaragoza:

Alicante, Almeria, Barcelona, Bilbao, Cadiz, Castellon, Girona, Ibiza, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Madrid, Málaga, Palma de Mallorca, Murcia, Santa Cruz Tenerife, Sevilla, Sitges, Valencia, Valladolid, Zaragoza

Alicante

Our article on Alicante: Alicante: the Spanish pearl
Check the monthly weather statistics for Alicante
Check our Citytrip ePostcards on Alicante
We have the experts: Lawyers, Property hunters, Architects, Banks from our network of local partners to assist you in your language
Follow this link to ask for one of our local experts

Check the real estate price evolution for Alicante since 1995

Prices in Alicante remain on average 20% lower than the national average and close the lowest reached since the crisis of 2008.

Almeria

Check the real estate price evolution for Almeria since 1995

Prices in Almeria remain on average 25% lower than the national average and close the lowest reached since the crisis of 2008.

Barcelona

Our article on Barcelona: Barcelona real estate market is rising in 2017
Check the monthly weather statistics for Barcelona
Check our Citytrip ePostcards on Barcelona
We have the experts: Lawyers, Property hunters, Architects, Banks from our network of local partners to assist you in your language
Follow this link to ask for one of our local experts

Check the real estate price evolution for Barcelona since 1995

Prices in Barcelona are on average 40% higher than the national average and rebounded about 15% from the lowest levels reached since the crisis of 2008. If you take into account the number of transactions, Madrid and Barcelona are the two strongest markets.

Bilbao

1. Best Professionals 2. Follow up 3. Competitive pricing 4. Partners 5. Qualitative Check

Cadiz

Check the real estate price evolution for Cadiz since 1995

Prices in Cadiz remain on average 15% lower than the national average and close the lowest reached since the crisis of 2008.

Castellon

Check the real estate price evolution for Castellon since 1995

Prices in Castellon remain on average 30% lower than the national average and close the lowest reached since the crisis of 2008.

Girona

Check the real estate price evolution for Girona since 1995

Prices in Girona followed the national prices as if Girona was the national market really funny! Check these two charts!

Ibiza

Check the real estate price evolution for the Balearic Islands since 1995

Prices in the Balears recovered strongly from the lows since 2008 (+15%) and are on average 40% higher than the national average.

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

Our article on Las Palmas de Gran Canaria: Gran Canaria, the tropical gem of Spain
Check the monthly weather statistics for Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
We have the experts: Lawyers, Property hunters, Architects, Banks from our network of local partners to assist you in your language
Follow this link to ask for one of our local experts

Check the real estate price evolution for the Gran Canaria since 1995

Prices in Gran Canaria remain on average 10% lower than the national average and rebounded by 10% of the lowest levels seen since 2008.

Madrid

Check the real estate price evolution for Madrid since 1995

Prices in Madrid are leading the charge and are 45% higher than the national average. They rebounded by about 13% from the lowest levels seen since 2008. If you take into account the number of transactions, Madrid and Barcelona are the two strongest markets.

Málaga

Check the real estate price evolution for Málaga since 1995

Prices in Málaga are about 8% higher than the national average and rebounded by a little bit more than 10% from the lows seen since 2008.

Palma de Mallorca

Our article on Palma de Mallorca: Mallorca, a paradise in the middle of the Mediterranean
Check the monthly weather statistics for Mallorca
We have the experts: Lawyers, Property hunters, Architects, Banks from our network of local partners to assist you in your language
Follow this link to ask for one of our local experts
Check the real estate price evolution for the Balearic Islands since 1995

Real Estate prices in Mallorca are 40% higher than the national average and rebounded by 15% since 2008.

Murcia

Check the real estate price evolution for Murcia since 1995

Property prices in Murcia are about 35% under the national average. They remain at the lowest levels seen since 2008.

Santa Cruz Tenerife

Check the real estate price evolution for Tenerife since 1995

Prices in Tenerife rebounded by more than 10% since the bottom of the period between now and 2018 but remain on average, 15% lower than the national average. The weather is more stable during the winter months but yes, your flight is a little bit longer.

Sevilla

Check the real estate price evolution for Sevilla since 1995

Real estate prices in Sevilla are 20% lower than the national average and close to the lowest prices seen since 2008.

Sitges

Check the real estate price evolution for Barcelona since 1995

This chart is reproducing the prices of Barcelona, a few kilometres north from Sitges. Prices in Sitges are strong as Sitges is seen as “the” seaside city in Catalonia.

Valencia

Have a look at our feedback from our real estate city trip to Valencia, April 2018.
Our article on Valencia: Valencia, the third biggest city in Spain, is a centre of interest for foreigners
Check the monthly weather statistics for Valencia
We have the experts: Lawyers, Property hunters, Architects, Banks from our network of local partners to assist you in your language
Follow this link to ask for one of our local experts

Check the real estate price evolution for Valencia since 1995

Real estate prices in Valencia are about 25% under the national averages. At the same time, it is the third city in Spain in terms of inhabitant! A bargain to check quickly?