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"Everything is for sale in Malaga." This turn of phrase, a recurring one in recent years among the professionals active in the property market, is borne out by the data. Every year, the Spanish association of property registrars compiles a valuable, statistical review based on all registered real estate transactions. The 2024 edition confirms two things: for one, that sales of housing did indeed continue to grow in the province, although at a slower rate than in previous years: up 3.5%, supported exclusively by more activity in the new-build market while the used housing market contracted by almost 11%. Secondly, that the increase in housing prices has not slowed off: the price per square metre rose by 10.8% at the provincial level to 2,750 euros and, in the case of Malaga city, by 24.5% to 2,980 euros. This increase exceeds all estimates made by the different real estate portals. Only one other Spanish, provincial capital registered a higher price increase in 2024 than Malaga and that was Cuenca, up by 26.9%.
With this new rise, Malaga is now just over 40,000 euros behind Madrid in the average price of flats being bought and sold. In fact, the homes that changed hands last year in the province achieved an average price of 298,593 euros, the third highest in Spain. Only the Balearic Islands at 380,166 euros and Madrid at 339,805 euros rank higher than Malaga. In just one year this average price has increased by 10% in Malaga, now placing it ahead of Guipúzcoa in the ranking.
It should be understood that this increase in the average price of homes sold is not only due to the increase in the square metre value, but also due to the characteristics of the properties sold. For example, if larger, better-located or newer homes are sold, the average price will rise regardless of whether the overall market is becoming more expensive. In the case of Malaga it must also be taken into account that this average price is partly governed by the high-end properties that are sold in Marbella for very high prices.
Another striking fact that emerges from this annual review of real estate is the prominence that the market in new builds is acquiring. Sales of brand new homes increased last year by 63.2% in Malaga province, totalling 10,777 done deals. In contrast, the sale of second-hand flats fell by 10.9% to 24,434. As a result, the proportion of new homes in the total number of housing sales now exceeds 30%. This turn of events has also influenced the strong increase in prices recorded last year as brand new homes are more expensive. Last year the price of new builds stood at 3,010 euros per square metre, compared with 2,633 euros for second-hand homes.
Foreign buyers continue to play a very important role in Malaga's property market. Last year they accounted for 32.4% of purchases, a slightly lower percentage (-1.3%) than in 2023. Only Alicante, Santa Cruz de Tenerife and the Balearic Islands have a higher proportion of foreign demand.
With regard to nationalities, the report does not break it down by province, providing only countrywide data. British buyers form the largest group taking up 8.64% of all home purchases made by foreigners. They are followed by the Germans with 6.7%, Moroccans (5.7%), French (5.4%), Dutch (5.3%), Romanians (5.1%) and Italians with 5.1%.
In terms of the spend by foreign buyers, 10.8% of property purchases made by foreigners in 2024 corresponded to housing valued at over 500,000 euros and, of these, more than half (52.6%) were purchased by non-EU citizens, many of whom could be making such a purchase to facilitate residency via the golden visa route.
On a national level, this annual review by Spain's property registrars shows that the price of housing reached a new all-time high in 2024 of 2,086 euros per square metre, meaning an annual increase of 6.3%. In new housing the growth stands at 4.8% (2,265 euros per square metre) and at 6.3% for used housing with an average price of 2,039 euros per square metre.
The provinces with the highest prices in euros per square metre are Guipúzcoa (3,577), Baleares (3,575), Madrid (3,527), Barcelona (2,923), Vizcaya (2,895) and Malaga (2,750). Provincial capitals are ranked with San Sebastian in the top spot (5,708), Madrid (4,517), Barcelona (4,483), Palma de Mallorca (3,631), Bilbao (3,068) and Malaga (2,980).
The number of sales and purchases of homes experienced a significant recovery last year in the country as a whole with an annual growth of 9.2%, totalling 636,909 sales and purchases in 2024. This pans out at 13.1 sales per 1,000 of the population per year. The number of mortgage signings for home purchases in 2024 was 435,328, an increase of 13.4% compared to 2023.
Housing affordability indicators have deteriorated further, although there has been some slowdown compared to the previous year. The average mortgage interest rate in 2024 was 3.38%, 0.05 percentage points higher than in 2023, and the average term was 24.5 years, 1% more than in 2023. The average monthly mortgage payment in 2024 was 738.20 euros, 4.5% higher than in 2023. In turn, the proportion of the average salary needed to pay the monthly mortgage was 32.4%.
The regions of Spain with the highest average monthly mortgage repayments in the last year were the Balearic Islands (1,259.30 euros), Madrid (1,101.40), Catalonia (810.60) and the Basque Country (768.50). In terms of the proportion of average salary swallowed up by mortgage payments, the regions facing most pressure were the Balearic Islands (56.4%), Madrid (39.6%), the Canary Islands (34.2%) and Andalucía (33.6%).
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