Key figures
Mortgages March 2026: −8.5% versus March 2025 — 1,408 vs 1,539 new contracts
Average mortgage amount: +17.5% to €183,486
Purchase price Las Palmas: €2,750/m² — new record
Purchase price Canaries overall: €3,441/m² (April 2026) — above Spain average €3,089
Rent: €15.6/m² — +8.8% year-on-year
Average wage Canaries: around €1,500 net
Affordability ratio: over 50% of income for a standard mortgage — Banco de España recommends max. 30%
Sources: INE, Idealista, Fotocasa, La Gaceta de Canarias, Libertad Digital Canarias, El Burgado
Spain's economy is growing. The Canary Islands are booming. Tourism figures look impressive. And yet in March 2026, fewer people than at any point in recent years signed a mortgage in the islands.
That is not a contradiction — it is the housing crisis in numbers.
Spain's National Statistics Institute INE has published its mortgage figures for March 2026. The result for the Canaries: 1,408 mortgages on residential property — a fall of 8.5% compared to March 2025, when there were 1,539. At the same time, the average loan amount rose by 17.5% to €183,486. Fewer buyers, each borrowing more. That is the shorthand for a market that is excluding more and more people.
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When prices outrun wages
The price per square metre in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria broke through the €2,750 barrier for the first time in April — a new record. Buying an 80 m² flat for €220,000 on an average net wage of around €1,500 would require more than half of monthly income just to cover the mortgage repayment. The Banco de España recommends keeping housing costs below 30% of income. In the Canaries, the affordability ratio shoots well past that.
Across the first quarter of 2026, Canary Islands property prices rose 18%. The province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife crossed €2,000/m² for the first time, reaching €2,061. Las Palmas province came in at €1,848/m², up 14.6%. The Canaries are approaching — and in parts exceeding — the price levels of the 2007 property bubble.
Renting: the other door closing
Those who cannot buy rent. And that is also becoming more expensive. Canary Islands rents rose 8.8% year-on-year to €15.6 per square metre. For a 70 m² flat that means around €1,090 per month — against a net wage of €1,500.
Average monthly rents stand at €1,270 in Las Palmas and €1,271 in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. In sought-after areas like Triana or Mesa y López, prices exceed €15/m².
The result is a feedback loop: those who cannot buy enter the rental market, which increases demand, which pushes up rents, which makes buying even harder, which pushes more people into renting. Repeat.
What the authorities are doing — and whether it helps
The regional government has responded. The Canarian Housing Institute has a record budget of €197.5 million for 2026. There is also the Bono Alquiler Joven — €250 per month for up to two years, maximum €6,000 per beneficiary. And the Hipoteca Joven Canarias, where the government guarantees up to 95% of the purchase price so that first-time buyers under 35 only need 5% in savings.
The catch: even with 95% financing, the monthly repayment remains a problem if wages do not rise. And the programme's price ceiling is expected to be around €250,000–€300,000 — which excludes much of what is on offer in the island capitals.
Total mortgage lending in the Canaries in March 2026 reached €223.64 million — more than the €190.61 million lent a year earlier, despite fewer contracts. More money, fewer buyers.
What this means for people moving to the islands
Anyone relocating from northern Europe to the Canaries is familiar with high property prices at home. What is different here is the wage gap. A remote worker on a German or British salary with a Digital Nomad Visa occupies a different economic reality from a local employee — and can buy or rent on the same market, at prices that are out of reach for many Canary Islanders.
This changes the market. It is not a criticism of individual newcomers but a description of reality: part of the housing demand in the Canaries comes from people with significantly higher purchasing power than the local average. That is one of the drivers that is rarely discussed openly in the housing debate.
Frequently asked questions
- What do properties cost in the Canary Islands right now?
- Purchase price April 2026: €3,441/m² for the Canaries overall, €2,750/m² in Las Palmas (new record). Rent: €15.6/m² on average — a standard 70 m² flat runs around €1,090 per month.
- Why are there fewer mortgages when prices are rising?
- Because fewer people can afford to buy. Fewer contracts, each one more expensive — the market is effectively closed to people on median incomes.
- What is the Hipoteca Joven Canarias?
- A government guarantee scheme for first-time buyers under 35. The state guarantees up to 95% of the purchase price, so buyers need only 5% in savings. Price ceiling expected at €250,000–€300,000.
- Is there rent control in the Canary Islands?
- For existing contracts, the legal rent update index (IRAV) applies. For new contracts, most Canarian municipalities currently have no caps — for that to change, zones would need to be officially designated as tensioned housing areas.
- When is the next housing protest rally?
- 27 June 2026 in Tenerife — with the main demands being the designation of tensioned housing zones and the introduction of rent caps.