That housing prices continue to rise in Spain is almost routine. The novelty in each series lies in knowing whether it does so to a greater or lesser extent than in previous dates. That is, if the market is accelerating or if it finally hits the brakes. In 2026, for the moment, it seems that rather the former is happening, and this despite the fact that there is a certain consensus among real estate market agents that the growth curve will moderate throughout the year. In the first quarter of the year, housing became more expensive by 14.3% year-on-year, a percentage that doubles that of the start of last year and that had not been seen in Spain since 2007, according to the latest report prepared by Tinsa by Accumin, the largest appraisal company in the country. This has placed the average price per square meter at 1,987 euros, increasingly closer to the 2,000 euros that marked the peak of the real estate bubble at the beginning of the century. The work concludes that, at a national level, the amount that households allocate to the payment of the first year of a mortgage is 32.5%, although in areas such as the Balearic Islands it amounts to almost double.
Buying a house is still for thousands of people, who cannot afford the amounts set by the market today. According to the latest Tinsa study, those who have it especially tough are the residents of the Balearic Islands. Not in vain, they have the most expensive square meter in the entire country, 3,743 euros, practically double the country’s average (1,987), after the average prices of new and second-hand homes have increased by 15.5% in the last year. To pay the first year of a mortgage that finances 80% of the value of an average home, households in the Mediterranean archipelago must allocate 54.3% of their disposable income. Which makes them, among all the autonomous communities, those who have to make the most effort in the entire country, with a rate that exceeds the national rate by more than 20 points (32.5%).
Tinsa data, which allow us to observe in detail what is happening in different parts of the country, show that the housing problem has become chronic everywhere, despite the fact that in some places the situation is much more compromised than in others. Thus, although the Balearic Islands collect some of the worst results, Madrid is the community that has experienced between the beginning of the year 2025 and 2026, with prices 19.2% higher. Furthermore, Madrid is the second most expensive provincial capital, only behind San Sebastián, with the most expensive square meter: 4,600 euros and 4,975 euros, respectively. This means that, in order to buy a house in the capital, its residents must allocate 60.2% of their disposable income, the worst record in the entire country. To top it off, Toledo, one of its bordering provinces, is the territory where prices have increased the most in the last year, 23.2%. Proof that the housing access crisis is spreading like an oil spill and escape is increasingly difficult.
Upload the emptied Spain
If resources are limited and territorial mobility is not a problem, there are still places where housing gives some respite. Of all the provincial capitals, Palencia, with 1,256 euros per square meter, Zamora (1,270) or Lugo (1,282) are the ones that offer the most affordable options. Expanding the radius a little further, only in the provinces of Ciudad Real (776), Zamora (881), Cuenca (893), Cáceres (955) and Badajoz (977) are there possibilities of currently finding the square meter below 1,000 euros. At the level of autonomous communities, only Extremadura is in the three-figure range (968 euros per square meter).
But the fact that these regions, some of them integrated into emptied Spain, appear to be the only oasis to find moderately affordable housing, does not mean that they are not in danger of ceasing to be so. According to the appraiser’s data, Castilla-La Mancha is the community in which the price has grown the most in the first quarter of 2026 compared to the last quarter of 2025 (7.2%); At the same time, Albacete is also the province in which it has done the most (10.4%), and at the same time, the provincial capital with the highest percentage of quarterly increases (+8.8%).
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