He doesn’t give up. According to the Housing Price Index (IPV) published this Friday by the INE, it increased by 12.8% in the third quarter compared to the same period in 2024. This means that the year-on-year increase in prices added one tenth more than from May to June, which represents the second highest rate in the historical series, only behind that of the first quarter of 2007 (when the historical series begins). If the increase in amounts is compared to the previous quarter, the growth was 2.9%, an increase that is not anecdotal because the houses have chained 42 consecutive increases. In other words, prices have not weakened since the first quarter of 2015. To calculate this data, the INE takes the price of houses in 2015 as base 100. From there it calculates the variation both backwards and forwards. And in this indicator a new historical maximum for housing prices is confirmed, exceeding 183 points. That means that houses are 83% more expensive than in 2015, and 21% more expensive than at the peak of the bubble at the beginning of the century (almost 152 points, in the third quarter of 2007).
The data published by the organization also breaks down the changes in the price of newly built homes and second-hand homes. The former rose 9.7% year-on-year, while the latter grew 13.4%. The latter is the highest rate of the entire series, and reinforces the idea that used homes continue to break records. Brand new homes do not become more expensive as quickly, but on the contrary they have been at historical highs for much longer, in fact the indicator exceeds 207 points, which means that a new construction is now worth more than double what it was in 2015. Compared to the peak of the bubble (137 points, in the third quarter of 2008 for this type of property) the increase exceeds 50%, which is much more than what inflation has increased since then (approximately 36%).
The price records that the real estate market is breaking data after data, and the difficulties in accessing housing that millions of citizens encounter as a counterpart, provoke the recurring debate as to whether Spain is facing a new bubble. But that is a situation that most experts in the sector, like María Matos, reject. The Director of Studies at Fotocasa argues that we cannot talk about this situation because “mortgage conditions remain prudent and remain within the solvency criteria required by the European Central Bank (ECB).” But he recognizes, in a statement sent to the media, that this improvement in financing “does not guarantee a real improvement in purchasing capacity.”
Matos, and almost the entire sector, justifies the continuous increases in house prices by the imbalance between solid demand, encouraged by favorable mortgage conditions, and a . According to the Real Estate Observatory According to BBVA Research published in October, the lack of housing construction will cause both in 2025, around 10% for the year as a whole, and in 2026, around 7%.
Double-digit rise in all CC AA
By territory, the rate at which they rise does not fall below double figures in any community. According to data published this Friday by the INE, Murcia registered the highest interannual variation (15%), while the lowest was detected in Navarra (10.9%). In quarterly terms (compared to the April-June period), the largest variations occurred in Cantabria (4.5%), the Balearic Islands (3.8%) and Aragón (3.6%).
If we look at newly built housing, in some autonomous communities decreases have been detected compared to the previous quarter. Thus, in the Balearic Islands the price fell by 1.2%, while it fell less than one point in (-0.9%), the Basque Country (-0.5%), Castilla-La Mancha (-0.2%) and Catalonia (-0.1). However, in all these territories, brand new houses were more expensive than a year before, which is the measure usually considered to measure the strength of the market because it reduces seasonal factors.
The quarterly price drops, which rebound in all territories. The greatest growth has been observed in Cantabria (4.8%), the Balearic Islands (4.4%) and Madrid (+3.9%).
For Matos, there is no good news in the near future, since the “greater buying pressure occurs in a context in which prices have already been registering strong increases since 2022, which will further accelerate the increase in prices as a consequence of the new push in demand.” All this in a context in which the cost per square meter is on average 2,153 euros, according to the latest data from the Ministry of Housing. It is a figure also above the records of the real estate bubble. To try to stop this trend, the Government urged the European Commission in October to take action.
