Notaries: home sales fall 11.1% in July while prices rise 7.7%. What it means for the Costa del Sol

According to Spain's notaries, home prices rose 7.7% year on year in July 2026 to €2,112 per square metre, while sales fell 11.1% to 65,395 transactions. It is the seventh month in a row with fewer sales than a year earlier. In Andalusia, the region that sells the most housing, sales dropped 8.8% and prices climbed 6.6%. Fewer transactions do not, for now, mean cheaper homes, and that is especially true on the Costa del Sol.

What do the July 2026 notary figures show?

The figures come from the Notaries' Statistical Information Centre, which records the deeds signed before a notary. It is the quickest snapshot of the market: it captures each sale at the moment of signing, weeks before it reaches the Land Registry. The drop affects every type of home, though flats more than houses, and prices are rising in both segments, with flats clearly ahead.

The notary figure is tougher than the Land Registry figure for the same month, which put the fall at 7.7%. They do not contradict each other: notaries count signings and registries count registrations, which arrive later. What both sources confirm is the same underlying trend, with fewer transactions month after month since the start of the year.

How are home sales doing in Andalusia?

Andalusia was once again the region with the most home sales in Spain: 12,776 in July, almost one in five nationwide. Its 8.8% drop was milder than the national average and far smaller than in other major markets such as the Valencia region or Madrid.

Only Extremadura sold more homes than a year earlier, and by just 0.9%. The steepest falls, above 20%, were in the Basque Country and La Rioja. On price, Andalusian housing stood at €1,835 per square metre, 6.6% more than in July 2025 and still below the Spanish average.

Why are sales falling while prices keep rising?

It looks like a contradiction, but it is not. The market is not slowing for lack of buyers, but because few homes are for sale and those that are keep getting more expensive. When supply is scarce, fewer deals close, but each one is signed at a higher price. Three factors stand out:

• Limited supply: new construction does not cover demand, and many owners do not sell because they cannot find somewhere to buy next.
• Dearer financing: with Euribor around 3% and the ECB raising rates, every new mortgage costs more and some buyers postpone their decision.
• Prices at record levels: according to the notaries, housing has posted 36 consecutive months of year-on-year rises, which prices out part of the domestic buyer pool.

There is one sign of change worth watching: prices are still rising, but more slowly than in previous months. This is a slowdown in growth, not a fall.

How many home purchases are financed with a mortgage?

Across Spain, 56.1% of July's home purchases were financed with a mortgage, which covered on average 71.6% of the price. A total of 36,685 home-purchase mortgages were signed, 4.9% fewer than a year earlier, with an average loan of €183,644. In Andalusia, 6,594 mortgages were signed, 4.3% fewer.

Comparing mortgages with sales, only around half of purchases in Andalusia, roughly 52%, relied on a loan, against 56% nationally. This is our own calculation, but it matches what we see every day: on the Costa del Sol a large share of buyers, many of them from abroad, pay with their own funds and depend less on interest rates.

What does it mean for buyers and sellers on the Costa del Sol?

The notaries' Andalusian average says little about the coastline of Malaga. According to our Costa del Sol market report for October 2026, the median asking price is €4,670 per square metre, around two and a half times the Andalusian average. These are listing prices rather than deed prices, so they are not directly comparable, but they show the gap between the coast and the rest of the region.

• If you are buying: less competition for each home gives a little more room to negotiate and compare, but do not count on widespread price falls in the short term.
• If you are selling: prices are holding, but buyers are more cautious and take longer to decide. A home priced correctly from day one sells faster than one that starts too high and has to be cut later.
• If you are investing: in a market with fewer transactions, location and quality matter more, because they are what support the price when demand cools.

In short: fewer sales, firm prices

July's notary figures confirm a market that is selling less but not getting cheaper. Andalusia is holding up better than the average and the Costa del Sol keeps its own price level, supported by demand that relies less on mortgages. If you want to know what your home is worth today or what your budget can buy in Marbella, Málaga or Estepona, EVS PROPERTY GROUP can help with real local data.

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