The value of housing in the municipalities of the Spanish coast, excluding the provincial capitals, rose by 13.5% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026, reaching 1,992 euros per square meter. This increase places the purchase effort at 40% of the disposable income of the average household and begins to reveal signs of fatigue in demand, according to the report "Housing on the Coast 2026" prepared by Tinsa by Accumin.
"The residential market on the coast, strongly dominated by the dynamics of the vacation segment, combines intense price growth with robust demand that is beginning to show signs of exhaustion, revealing the scarcity of supply as the main factor sustaining price tensions and increasingly hindering access to housing for the average local salary," pointed out the director of the Tinsa by Accumin Research Service, Cristina Arias.
Stronger increases in islands and the Mediterranean
By areas, the largest price advances occurred in the Balearic and Canary archipelagos, with a rise of 14.1%, and in the Mediterranean Coast, where the increase was 13.9%. Following them were the Northern Coast and the Andalusian Atlantic coast, both with a nominal growth of 11.7%.
When compared to the peaks of the real estate bubble of 2007, the study indicates that the price on the coast remains 30% below in real terms. However, in nominal terms, nearly one hundred municipalities, located mainly in the Balearic Islands, Canary Islands, Alicante, Málaga, Cádiz, and Pontevedra, have already surpassed the levels reached in that cycle.
Rising mortgage effort and more difficult access
The financial effort required to face the first year of a mortgage exceeds the recommended 35% and is at levels of strong tension in certain segments. Notable are the Balearic Islands, with 59%, Málaga, with 57%, and Alicante, with 46%. At the opposite end, the most contained records are mainly observed in segments of the Northern Coast, as well as in Murcia, Valencia, Castellón, and Almería.
"The Spanish coast is growing increasingly unevenly. While the purchase effort of the national average remains close to equilibrium, access to housing reaches high tension levels on the coast, and critical in several segments, where the fusion between first and second residence products prioritizes the greater profitability offered by the vacation segment," explained Arias.
Likewise, the head of the Studies Service warns that the convergence of uses between primary residence and vacation home is displacing the traditional product. As highlighted, "the compatibility of the primary residence with vacation use remains, for another year, the main challenge of the Spanish coast."
Second home: high prices and room for increase
In the specific niche of second homes, the technical network of the appraiser estimates an average price of 3,150 euros per square meter, 11.6% above the national average. In 77% of the studied segments, experts believe there is still room for an increase, while in the remaining 23% they detect signs of stabilization or having reached the ceiling.
"No area reduces its activity compared to the previous year, but the number of areas perceiving signs of exhaustion is increasing and indicating that the price of vacation homes could be close to hitting the ceiling," indicated senior analyst of the Studies Service of Tinsa by Accumin, Andrea de la Hoz.
Transactions, foreign buyers, and new construction
Regarding the real estate market, coastal municipalities recorded 204,089 transactions in 2025, representing a year-on-year increase of 1.7%. Acquisitions by foreigners moderated by 3% overall, although they grew on the Andalusian Atlantic coast, with an increase of 11.4%, and in the North Coast, with a rise of 10.9%.
On the supply side, the granting of new construction permits on the coast increased by 21.7% year-on-year, reaching 29,101 licenses. The boost was particularly intense in the Islands, where it increased by 39%, and in Atlantic Andalusia, with 23% more. Mijas (1,670), Estepona (1,278), and Gijón (854) led the number of permits granted.
"Despite the fact that promotional activity is concentrated in coastal areas where access to housing is more critical, it continues to be largely oriented towards the vacation segment, which is more profitable than the tight margins provided by the primary residence segment, without correcting the imbalance in access," concluded Cristina Arias.