There is a before and after in the housing market that is frequently referred to in the Balearics - the property bubble that preceded the financial crisis and what came afterwards. House prices had soared, but the crisis led to them tumbling. It was a similar situation across the whole of Spain. And so 2007 is taken as a kind of benchmark for house prices.
A report by the valuation company Tinsa shows that there is only one region of Spain where prices are now higher than they were in 2007 - the Balearics. The prices are in fact 16.9% higher. The region that comes closest to the Balearics is Madrid, where prices are still lower than in 2007 but only by 2.5%.
At a provincial capital level, Palma and Malaga are the only cities where prices are above 2007 - Palma by 12.1% and Malaga by 4.6%. Madrid prices are 0.2% lower; in Santa Cruz de Tenerife they are 1.2% lower.
Tinsa's report points to a 10.8% increase in house value in the Balearics in 2024. This is the highest in the country. Cantabriia ranks second with 8.5% and then the Canaries with 7.1%.
The report also highlights the fact that the average household in the Balearics needs to allocate more of its disposable income to paying the mortgage (on a first home) than elsewhere in Spain. This is 67%, followed by Cadiz 43%, Madrid 40%, and Barcelona and Alicante, both 39%.