The Balearic Islands are no strangers to eye-watering property prices, but the latest figures reveal a particularly surreal twist: square-metre prices for storage rooms and garages in the region are now higher than entire homes in six other autonomous communities.
1,500 euros per square metre — for a garage
According to the 2024 Annual Real Estate Registration Statistics published by the Spanish College of Registrars, a square metre of trastero (storage room) in the Balearics now goes for an average of €1,482. Garages are even costlier: €1,512 per square metre.
That puts humble basement spaces ahead of entire flats in regions like Extremadura (€817/m²), Castilla-La Mancha (€908), Castilla y León (€1,170), Murcia (€1,186), La Rioja (€1,298), and Asturias (€1,352).
In other words, people in those regions can buy a home — with a kitchen, bathroom, and maybe even some charm — for less money per square metre than it takes to stash your toolbox or park your scooter in Palma.
Baleares tops the charts in property price growth
Beyond this quirky stat lies a much more serious trend: the Balearic Islands have now overtaken all other Spanish regions in terms of residential property cost and price growth.
In 2024, property prices in the archipelago skyrocketed by 9.4%, positioning it as the sharpest annual spike nationwide. The result? A typical home now sells for €380,166 — nearly double the national average (€198,407).
Madrid follows closely behind at €339,805, with the Basque Country (€255,998) and Catalonia (€227,611) rounding out the exclusive club where average home prices exceed the national median.
For comparison, €380,000 in the Balearics could buy you:
- 4 flats in Extremadura (avg. €86,838),
- 3 homes in Castilla-La Mancha (€100,555),
- or a small apartment building in Murcia (€116,376).
An overheated market with nowhere to go
The reasons behind this runaway housing market trace back to an imbalance between supply and demand — made more potent by the islands’ unique economic appeal and limited land availability. The registrars warn of continued upward pressure on prices, citing persistent population growth unchecked by corresponding increases in new-build housing.
Crucially, the demand isn’t just coming from local families — but largely from new arrivals. “Foreign immigration has a stronger impact on the housing market, as these are not births joining existing households but adults seeking jobs and residences,” the report explains.
This population boom in turn fuels household formation, which drives demand — and in the Balearics, where horizontal expansion is constrained, that means prices have only one way to go: up.
Supply can’t keep up — and sales are falling
Interestingly, rampant price inflation hasn’t led to more transactions. Quite the opposite. Baleares was one of only two regions in Spain where property sales actually declined in 2024, falling 2.5% year-on-year to 13,847 registered deals. (The other was the Canary Islands, down 1.2%.)
Every other autonomous community saw housing sales increase last year.
This suggests that even in a climate of demand, soaring prices and dwindling affordability are suppressing actual transactions. The dream of owning a home on the islands, for many, seems increasingly out of reach.
Rental pressures add more fuel to the fire
Compounding the issue, the report points to dysfunction in the rental market. While logically rentals should absorb excess demand when ownership becomes unaffordable, inefficiencies in the rental sector — including short-term tourism lets and regulatory uncertainty — are putting further strain on an already tight market.
