Cole Sinanian
LIKE much of Europe, Spain’s real estate market ended 2023 with record-high prices throughout the country, with the Andalucian cities of Malaga and Cadiz registering particularly jarring numbers for both rentals and sales.
According to monthly data released by housing marketplace and research group Idealista, the costs of housing in Malaga and Cadiz have reached historic highs, with average sale prices for both cities surpassing €2,700 per metre-squared.
In Malaga, this number reached its historic maximum of €2,668 per metre-squared in December 2023, with the city’s central district hitting a record high of €3,567.
But the highest average sale price in Malaga — also an all-time record — can be found in the city’s posh Este district, with a staggering €3,723 per metre-squared registered in December.
According to the Idealista data, every district in Malaga reached its historical maximum average sales price in either October, November, or December 2023.
The lowest sales prices were recorded in the hilly residential district of Ciudad Jardin in the Malaga outskirts, at an average of €1,779 per metre-squared.
As for rental prices in Malaga, the story was much the same.
The average rental price for the city as a whole in December 2023 was €13.6 per metre-squared, also a historic high.
Looking at extremes, Este recorded the highest rental price at €15.1 per metre-squared.
The lowest price was recorded in Campanillas at €10.5 per metre-squared, while the average rental rate in the city centre was €14.7
In Cadiz, the story is much the same, with the city recording a record high average sale price of €2,786 per metre-squared in December 2023.
Only the city’s most expensive neighbourhood for buying, Cortadura, did not record its highest ever average sale price this year.
The beachfront zone hit €3,434 per metre-squared in December, down from its historical maximum of €3,486, recorded in August 2022.
As for rentals, Cadiz hit an average price of €11.0 per metre-squared in December, also an all-time record.
Curiously, Cortadura’s rental prices were cheaper than the city’s average, standing at €10.7 per metre-squared, although the number is still a record high.
According to the data, Cadiz’s most expensive neighbourhood to rent in is Playa Santa Maria del Mar, recording an average price of €11.6 per metre-squared, just shy of the historic maximum of €11.8, recorded in March 2023.
To put these numbers into context, Idealista’s December 2023 Monthly Residential Report puts the average housing sales price in Spain at €2,042 per metre-squared.
The country’s highest prices can be found in the Balearic Islands, whose average sales price pushes €4,000, and Guipuzcoa in the Basque Country, with average sales prices nearing €3,500 per metre-squared.
While there’s variation between provinces, housing costs have been on an upward trend throughout much of Spain since the pandemic.
In Malaga, for example, rental prices have shot up since early 2021, the end of a period which saw month-to-month decreases for nine months straight.
Since then, rental prices in the Malaga province have generally trended upwards, although from August to September 2023, prices saw a 1.1% decrease — the first downward trend since March 2021.
Similarly in Cadiz, the period between August and October 2023 saw three months straight of negative growth in rental prices, pointing to a possible stabilisation of housing costs in Andalucia after years of staggering growth.
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