Housing rose by 4.3% in the first quarter and the price per square meter exceeded 3,000 euros in Madrid and the Balearic Islands
House prices continued their upward path at the start of 2024. The appraised value of Apartments became more expensive in Spain by an average of 4.3% compared to the first quarter of 2023, according to statistics released this Tuesday by the Ministry of Housing, which consolidates Madrid and the Balearic Islands as the two communities with the most expensive square meter, above 3,000 euros. The Mediterranean archipelago was also the region where free housing prices grew the most, practically doubling the national average.
The appraised value per square meter increased in the first quarter of the year until reaching 1,866 euros on average in Spain as a whole, thus exceeding the 1,788 euros at which the brand stood a year ago. This data refers to the estimated value of the free home according to its characteristics, location and conditions. This is the first time since 2010 that the cost per square meter exceeds 1,800 euros, although it still remains below the maximum of 2,101 euros that it reached in the first quarter of 2008 at the height of the real estate bubble.
According to data from the Ministry of Housing, the assessed price of free housing has been growing since 2014, with some occasional stops along the way. In the last decade, the square meter has become more expensive by almost 30% compared to the first quarter of 2014, when its price was close to 1,460 euros. In the last three months alone, the cost of free housing has risen 1.3% compared to the 1,842 euros at which per square meter was valued at the end of 2023.
No autonomous community has escaped the rise in prices, although the differences between regions are palpable. Specific, The Balearic Islands are the area where housing appreciated the most in the first quarter of the year, which became 8.3% more expensive compared to the beginning of 2023, almost double the national average. In Cantabria, the Canary Islands and the Valencian Community the increase was around 7%, while in Andalusia it reached 6.1%. However, in the southern community the situation varies by province. In Malaga the square meter has become more expensive by 8.1% in the last year, while in Córdoba the increase barely exceeds 1% and in Jaén it has even become cheaper by 0.1%.
The price increase was less pronounced in other communities such as Madrid, where the cost of housing has increased by 4.6% in the last year. However, The autonomy chaired by Isabel Díaz Ayuso is the one with the most expensive square meter, reaching 3,116.7 euros. Also in the Balearic Islands they exceed 3,000 euros. They are followed by the Basque Country and Catalonia, where the price per square meter stood at 2,575 and 2,265 euros respectively in the first quarter, although in both cases the increase experienced in the last year has remained below the national average.
Housing became more expensive in Catalonia by 3.6% in the first quarter compared to the same period of the previous year, while the increase was 1.4% in the case of the Basque Country, which is the second community with the least prices increased. Only Extremadura surpassed it, where the increase was barely 0.9%. Neither in Castilla-La Mancha nor in Castilla y León did the increase exceed 3%, with the price per square meter at 956 and 1,080 euros respectively.
For its part, the price of subsidized housing remained practically stable. According to data published this Tuesday, this type of apartment has increased in price by just 0.3% in the last year, placing the price per square meter at 1,167 euros, almost 800 euros below that of free housing. The Canary Islands was the community where the largest annual increase was recorded, which reached 3.9%. Madrid repeats as the region with the most expensive square meter also in protected housing, slightly above 1,452 euros.
