Canary Islands property sales plunge 8.9% in March

Canary Islands property sales plunge 8.9%

Property sales in Spain intensified their decline in March, falling 2.2% year-on-year – but the Canary Islands fared far worse, with a drop of 8.9%. A total of 61,295 transactions were recorded across the country, marking another downturn and capping a negative first quarter, according to data released this Monday by the National Statistics Institute (INE).

With this latest adjustment – the third consecutive decline this year – property transactions have fallen by 2.6% in the first quarter of 2026. This follows growth of 11.5% in 2025, when 714,237 units were sold, the highest figure since the peak of 2007. The year began with a 5% drop in January, followed by a 0.5% fall in February and a 2.2% slide in March.

Supply shortage pushes prices up

All of this is taking place against a backdrop of scarce housing supply relative to demand, which continues to push prices upwards and make it increasingly difficult for young people and those on lower incomes to get onto the property ladder.

Second-hand homes buck the trend

By property type, sales of second-hand homes – which account for more than 78% of the market – rose by 0.2% in March to 48,238 transactions. In fact, this is the highest figure for any March since the statistical series began in 2007.

New-build properties, by contrast, suffered a double-digit decline of 10.2% in March, with just 13,057 units sold, marking three consecutive months of falling sales.

Freehold and social housing both down

By tenure, freehold properties accounted for nearly 94% of all sales, totalling 57,500 transactions – 1.6% fewer than in the same month of 2025. Social housing sales stood at 3,795, a drop of 10.4%, according to the INE, which compiles its data from information held by the Property Registries across the country under a cooperation agreement between the two bodies.

Regional breakdown: Canary Islands among the worst hit

In March, property sales fell in nine of Spain’s autonomous communities and rose in the remaining eight. The largest declines, all in double digits, were recorded in Cantabria (15.4%) and the Basque Country (11.6%). They were followed by the Canary Islands (8.9%), the Balearic Islands (8.3%), and Murcia and Andalusia (6.5% in both cases).

On the upside, the most notable increases were in Castilla-La Mancha (11.5%), Navarre (8.2%) and La Rioja (5.2%). Among the major markets, property sales fell by 3.5% in Catalonia and by 2.5% in Madrid.

Monthly comparison shows slight recovery

Comparing March figures with those from February, property sales rose by 2.7% month-on-month. However, new-build sales continued to fall, down 5.4% on the previous month, while second-hand sales grew by 5.1%.

By tenure, both freehold and social housing increased in March compared with February – freehold by 2.8% and social housing by 1.2%.

First quarter overall: a 2.6% decline

With this latest adjustment, property sales have fallen by 2.6% in the first quarter of the year compared with the same period in 2025. Both new-build and second-hand homes saw declines of 5.3% and 1.8% respectively. Social housing once again suffered the steepest fall, dropping 6.9% between January and March, while freehold property sales fell by 2.3% over the quarter.

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Canary Islands property sales plunge 8.9% in March