How open is your mind? And your wallet? If you're looking for a home and are willing to move, the house you can hope for in one or another region of Spain can be very different. The price of apartments varies in each province, and knowing this can help you make profitable decisions when buying a house and looking for a mortgage.
Where are property prices are rising the most
According to data from Fotocasa, for the second quarter of the year, the average price of a used apartment in Spain is 1,936 euros per square meter. This number represents a quarterly increase of 1.2% and an annual increase of 2.8%, meaning that in the last 12 months the average price of an apartment has increased. The problem with averages is that they rarely tell the whole story. As it is often said, if one person eats two chickens and another one does not eat any, the average is that they each ate one chicken, but one person will still be hungry.
Something similar has happened with the development of housing prices by province and capital cities: the increase has been very uneven. In the Balearic Islands, the purchase price of apartments has risen the most, by 5.4%, far ahead of other regions such as Madrid or Castilla-La Mancha, where the price increased by 2.3% and 2%, respectively.
We find more moderate increases in Murcia (1.9%), the Canary Islands and Valencia Community (1.5%), and Extremadura (1%). On the other hand, there are price declines in Castilla and León (-1.1%), La Rioja (-0.8%), and Galicia (-0.6%).
Price of real estate by autonomous regions
One thing is where the price of real estate has increased the most depending on the autonomous region, and another thing is where it is more expensive to buy a house. To better understand this, the prices have increased the most in the Balearic Islands, but it is not the region where the price per square meter is the highest. This dubious honor belongs to Madrid. There are differences in their neighborhoods. Check the current distribution:
Price of real estate by provincial capitals
There are also significant price differences between provinces. As there are differences within the autonomous regions, each county has its trends in real estate prices. The purchase price of houses has increased in 68% of the Spanish provinces, although it reached its historical high in the Balearic Islands in 2022.
The most expensive provinces to buy a house in are currently Madrid, Guipúzcoa, and the Balearic Islands, all with a price of over 3,000 euros per square meter. This trend continues in the provincial capitals, where house prices are 69% higher than in other cities. Donostia - San Sebastián is by far the most expensive. The price per square meter in the capital of Guipúzcoa is 5,791 euros, far ahead of the 4,346 euros of Barcelona and the 4,141 euros of Madrid.
How to use all of this to your advantage
To make decisions, nothing more and nothing less. Choosing where to live is one of those decisions that will represent a big deal on your finances and financial freedom.
On the one hand, there is the price of the property which, as you have seen, varies depending on the community and even the province. On the other hand, the community in which you live will also influence the cost of buying a second-hand property, as the amount of taxes can change.
Furthermore, the cost of living is different for every city and autonomous community. For example, buying an apartment and living in the capital city of Madrid will be more expensive
than in a neighbourhood of the same community since this may be more expensive than living in Guadalajara, Castilla-La Mancha, for example.
