canary islands property market frenzy buyers competition

Canary Islands Property Sells in Days as Buyers Face Frenzied Market

Property frenzy sees homes sell within a week

The time spent choosing a new sofa can be greater than the time it takes to buy a house. And that is no exaggeration. The shortage of available properties has accelerated the real estate market, not only in terms of rising prices but also in the purchasing process. The avalanche of prospective buyers is so intense that industry insiders confirm up to 10 potential purchasers can emerge for a single listing within 24 hours. In this regard, the latest report from the Idealista property portal reveals that 16% of homes sold in the Canary Islands were purchased after being on the market for less than a week, while 24% sold in under a month. This means 40% of the available supply is sold within 30 days.

A buyer’s nightmare: shrinking wish lists and instant decisions

“It’s a horror story. A process that should be beautiful and important turns into a nightmare,” explains Sara Álvarez. The young woman has been searching for her new home for just over a year, without success. She has visited nearly 20 properties hoping one would meet a list of requirements that, as time passes, has shrunk: “I used to be more demanding, I wanted a garage, a lift… but now I’ll settle for more basic criteria.” Like many other buyers, Álvarez must be quick when choosing a house. “I haven’t visited a property more than twice because it was bought before I had the chance,” she emphasises.

This is unsurprising. According to another Idealista study, last year a house was sold every 44 seconds somewhere in the country, a figure that varies by region but highlights the intense demand in the property market. For this reason, buyers like the young Canary Islander have developed a kind of philosophy of discouragement: “Every time you like something, the first question you ask is, how many other people will be interested in this same property?”

The numbers behind the speed: from weeks to over a year

According to Pablo Picasarri, an agent at the firm Ziegel, there can be an average of 5 to 10 buyers, so the acquisition process seldom lasts more than a month. Idealista’s data shows that 32% of homes sold through its portal during the first quarter of 2025 had been on the market between one and three months, and 25% between three months and a year. In contrast, it is unusual for the process to drag on for over a year: the percentage was just 6%.

Social media fuels the fire and creates bidding wars

Although the report only considers houses advertised on its website, the truth is there are so many islanders looking for a property that “you don’t even need to list it publicly,” warns Pablo Picasarri. Demand is so high that professionals in the sector can find a new owner just from their own portfolio of clients. Furthermore, the increasingly common use of platforms like Instagram or Facebook allows properties to be presented in short videos, a very useful tool for reaching more potential interested parties. Álvarez found many of the houses she viewed precisely through social media.

The effectiveness of this format is demonstrated by what happened to Pablo Picasarri in December with a property in Siete Palmas, in Gran Canaria’s capital, Las Palmas. With just one video published on social media, a list of over 20 people interested in viewing it was generated within 24 hours. From there, a shortlist was made, and in a single afternoon, ten viewings were conducted, resulting in five offers, two of them even above the asking price. Consequently, buying a home has sometimes turned into a race to the highest bidder. As the estate agent details, the anguish of securing their dream home—coupled with the purchasing power to allow it—has led some buyers to offer more money for a house to ensure their purchase against a long list of competitors.

The human element persists amidst the pressure

However, this speed of acquisition has not erased the human component of the process. Faced with market pressure, some professionals champion the individual viewing as an essential part of the purchase. The reason is simple: “Buying a home isn’t just any decision; it’s one of the most important in many people’s lives,” adds Picasarri. Therefore, although group viewings or similar formulas could save time, the estate agent is not in favour of applying them. He believes the buyer is already under enough strain knowing they are competing with many others and deserves “at least half an hour” to enter, observe, and decide calmly.

In this sense, Sara Álvarez also stresses the importance of being able to view the property individually or with her partner, with whom she intends to buy: “That way I feel I’m competing against fewer people and, therefore, under less pressure.” In fact, the only group viewing she attended she didn’t even finish. The overwhelm, lack of personalisation, and inability to take her time to reflect on such a major investment led her to leave before it ended.

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