Demand pressure in the property market has returned the Spanish capital to its position as the most sought-after city among those with a large stock on idealista in the second quarter of the year. Provincial cities have regained the prominence that nearby cities like Alcalá de Henares (2nd) and Torrent (4th) had claimed in previous rankings. Among the top 10 most sought-after locations from April to June, Valencia, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Zaragoza, Seville, Barcelona, and Santander continue to stand out.
This time, idealista's property demand ranking between April and June highlights major cities as the main focus of searches and interactions by users of the southern European real estate marketplace. Madrid tops the list, followed by the neighbouring town of Alcala de Henares, and Valencia, accompanied by Torrent.
Following closely are some of Spain's largest cities, including Zaragoza (7th), Seville (8th), and Barcelona (9th), all overtaken by the two Canary Island capitals. Las Palmas de Gran Canaria ranks fifth, and Santa Cruz de Tenerife holds sixth place. Both island cities alternate as the top choice in the archipelago due to growing interest from homebuyers.
Santander completes the top 10 of the most sought-after places, which consists of eight provincial capitals and only two cities on the outskirts of big cities.
Next, in the second tier of places with the highest relative demand, there is a more balanced distribution between provincial capitals and their surrounding areas. For example, Reus (Tarragona), Hospitalet de Llobregat and Badalona (17th) and Sant Cugat del Valles (20th) also appear – all three in Barcelona. However, Gijon (14th) is one of the most prominent towns outside the provincial capitals.
Among them, there are another five provincial capitals: Malaga, which is in 13th position, ahead of Palma (15th), Huelva (16th), Almeria (18th) and A Coruña (19th).
Behind them, coastal destinations throughout Spain are beginning to stand out, such as San Bartolomé de Tirajana, Gran Canaria (23rd), Rincon de la Victoria in Malaga (24th), Gandia (26th), Valencia, and Vilanova i la Geltrú (27th) in Barcelona, together with seaside capitals such as San Sebastian (21st), Alicante (22nd) or Tarragona (30th), and large cities around Barcelona such as Manresa (25th) or Terrassa (28th).
Most of the in-demand locations are priced below average
The second-quarter ranking for property demand in Spain includes 104 cities that meet the requirements for relevant stock on the market and prices over €1,100 per square metre. The average price, with locations that can exceed €2 million compared to the more affordable €130,000, is close to €365,000.
Most of these towns are below this price, except for the most select tourist destinations and provincial capitals such as Palma (€670,000), San Sebastian (€604,000), Madrid (€526,000), Barcelona (€413,000) or Malaga (€368,000).
The most expensive places on the list are led by old Costa del Sol favourites, such as Benahavis, priced at an average of almost €2.3 million and Marbella (€1.6 million), although second only to the Mallorcan municipality of Calvia (€1.7 million). Joining this select million-euro club are Sotogrande (€1.17 million) and Altea (€1.1 million).
Below €1 million, other outstanding coastal towns are Sitges (€730,000), Adeje (€720,000) and Llucmajor (€712,000), along with the Barcelona town of Sant Cugat del Valles (€864,000).
At the other end of the spectrum, among the 100 most sought-after places on the market, are others with average prices below €150,000, such as Manresa (€130,500), Roquetas de Mar (€133,250), Huelva (€136,000), Palencia (€136,400) and the Murcian town of Aguilas (€138,000).
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