The market in official numbers
Spain publishes three official series — INE's price index, the Housing Ministry's appraised values, and the land registry's registered sale prices. In Q1 2026 all three hit records, and all three agree on direction.
| Measure | Value | Period |
|---|
| INE House Price Index (IPV) — from ~95% of registered sales | +12.9% year-on-year (new build +9.1%, second-hand +13.5%). Around 12–13% for five straight quarters | Q1 2026 |
| Ministerio de Vivienda y Agenda Urbana — appraised value, free-market housing | €2,316/m², +13.9% y/y — record high of a series running since 1995 | Q1 2026 |
| Colegio de Registradores — average registered sale price | €2,429/m², +8.9% y/y, +3.2% q/q — record; average mortgage ~€172,500 | Q1 2026 |
| Idealista national asking price | €2,823/m², +15.8% y/y — all-time high (ASKING, portal) | Jun 2026 |
Regionally, the official INE index (Q1 2026, y/y) ran from +15.6% in Aragón and Murcia (the fastest) through Comunitat Valenciana +14.3%, Balearics and Madrid +13.6%, Andalucía +13.3%, Canarias +10.7%, and Cataluña +10.5%, down to País Vasco +10.3% (the slowest). Nowhere is flat.
Prices area by area
Every city and region row below is an ASKING price from Idealista — advertised, not final. The two national rows at the top are the official yardsticks to read them against. Idealista updates cities on a rolling basis, so months differ by row.
| Area | €/m² | ≈ USD/m²* | Basis | Period |
|---|
| Spain (national, registered sales) | €2,429 | $2,842 | OFFICIAL — Registradores | Q1 2026 |
| Spain (national, asking) | €2,823 | $3,303 | ASKING — Idealista | Jun 2026 |
| Madrid (city) | €6,013 | $7,035 | ASKING | Jun 2026 |
| Barcelona (city) | €5,269 | $6,165 | ASKING | Jun 2026 |
| Marbella | €5,596 | $6,547 | ASKING | Apr 2026 |
| Balearic Islands (region) | €5,337 | $6,244 | ASKING | Jun 2026 |
| Palma de Mallorca | €5,152 | $6,028 | ASKING | Apr 2026 |
| Jávea / Xàbia | €4,072 | $4,764 | ASKING | May 2026 |
| Málaga (city) | €3,784 | $4,427 | ASKING | Jun 2026 |
| Valencia (city) | €3,378 | $3,952 | ASKING | May 2026 |
| Canary Islands (region) | €3,297 | $3,857 | ASKING | Jun 2026 |
| Alicante province | €2,764 | $3,234 | ASKING | Apr 2026 |
| Las Palmas de Gran Canaria | €2,756 | $3,225 | ASKING | Apr 2026 |
| Santa Cruz de Tenerife (city) | €2,576 | $3,014 | ASKING | Apr 2026 |
| Alicante (city) | €2,549 | $2,982 | ASKING | Apr 2026 |
| Murcia Región | €1,816 | $2,125 | ASKING | Jun 2026 |
| Murcia (city) | €1,598 | $1,870 | ASKING | Apr 2026 |
*Converted at €1 = $1.17 (8 July 2026), rounded to the nearest dollar.
The spread is the story: Murcia city asks less than a third of Madrid — and Murcia is Spain's fastest-rising region (+21.1% y/y asking, +15.6% on the official INE index). Two coastal figures we track — Estepona and Torrevieja — didn't clear our verification pass this round, so they're deliberately absent; we'll add them once confirmed against the portal pages.
Where our numbers come from
- INE — the official house price index (IPV), built from ~95% of registered sales, quarterly, national plus 17 regions. Rebased to 2025=100 from Q1 2026, so index levels in older articles no longer compare.
- Ministerio de Vivienda y Agenda Urbana — appraised €/m² values by province and municipality, from certified appraisal firms, since 1995.
- Colegio de Registradores — registered transaction prices, sales volumes, foreign-buyer share, and mortgage data from the land registry.
- Consejo General del Notariado — real deed prices from every notarised sale; public price portal since October 2025.
- Idealista and Fotocasa — the two big portals; monthly asking €/m² down to district level.
The honesty note: asking prices run above final sale prices — Idealista's national asking figure (Jun 2026) runs roughly 16% above the Registradores' registered price (Q1 2026). When a listing quotes a €/m² figure, ask which series it comes from. Sellers quote asking; you should anchor on registered.
What to watch
The "100% tax on foreign buyers" is still NOT law. Announced January 2025, registered as a PSOE bill, and then stalled: as of end-March 2026 it had never been formally debated or voted in Congress, was dropped from the government's January 2026 housing package headlines, and has no parliamentary majority. Practical position for American and Canadian buyers on 8 July 2026: unchanged — no such tax applies. We re-check monthly; treat any site presenting it as current law as unreliable.
The golden visa is dead — that one IS law. Spain's investor visa, including the €500,000 property route, ended on 3 April 2025. Buying property in Spain no longer confers any residence right; Americans and Canadians need the non-lucrative visa or digital nomad visa instead. Existing holders keep their rights.
Short-term rental squeeze: Barcelona will not renew its ~10,000 tourist-flat licences when they expire in November 2028 — do not buy there on a holiday-let business plan. Málaga city has suspended all new tourist-rental registrations since August 2025 (for up to three years). In the Balearics, proposals to restrict non-resident purchases keep surfacing — a bill entered parliamentary processing in February 2026 — but no restriction is in force and EU free-movement-of-capital law stands in its way.
Momentum risk: every official series is at an all-time high with double-digit growth. If you're buying with dollars, the question isn't whether Spain is cheaper than home — it's whether you're comfortable buying into the fastest market since 2008. Renting first answers that cheaply.
This page is general information, not legal or investment advice. Regional taxes and rules change; confirm with a lawyer before buying.