The Housing Price Index rose by 4.4% in the Balearics in the fourth quarter of 2023 compared to the previous year, according to data published today ( Thursday) by the National Statistics Institute (INE), which has ranked the region as the most expensive ahead of Madrid and Catalonia.
The Balearics was the fifth region with the highest year-on-year price rises, behind Andalusia, Navarre, the Canary Islands and Madrid.
Compared to the previous quarter, when a new record high was reached in the general index, housing prices fell by 1.2% in the Balearics due a drop in the cost of pre-owned housing.
With a notable difference with respect to the rest of the communities, the islands were the most expensive region for new housing, with prices 11.4% higher than the previous year and 0.9% higher than in the previous months.
In fact, it is the only region with a double-digit annual rate.
The Balearics is also the most expensive region in terms of pre-owned housing, with prices 3.4% higher than in 2022, although they have fallen by 1.5% compared to the period from July to September, when a record high was set.
In Spain as a whole, the price of free housing rose by an average of 4% in 2023, almost half of what it increased in 2022, recording its tenth consecutive annual rebound.
The rise in 2023 is almost half that experienced in 2022, when house prices increased at their fastest pace in 15 years with an increase of 7.4%.