Urban land prices in Málaga hit a record: €445/m², more than double the Spanish average

Urban land sold for an average of €445.4 per square metre in the province of Malaga in the second quarter of 2026, 26.9% more than a year earlier and the highest price since the Ministry of Housing began tracking it in 2004. That is more than double the Spanish average, which stands at €207.8, itself a fifteen-year high. And it is the starting point for the price of the new homes that will be built on the Costa del Sol over the coming years.

The figures come from the Land Price Statistics of Spain's Ministry of Housing and Urban Agenda, which each quarter records the sales of undeveloped urban or developable land entered in the Land Registry. Across Spain, 7,879 such sales were signed between April and June, 5.9% more than a year earlier, and the average price rose by 15.3%. The province of Málaga went further on both counts: 314 land sales, up 22.7%, and the third-highest price in the country.

How much does a square metre of urban land cost in Málaga?

These are the Spanish provinces with the most expensive urban land in the second quarter of 2026, according to the Ministry of Housing:

Gipuzkoa tops the list with just 11 sales in the quarter, a figure best treated with caution. Leave it aside and Málaga is the second most expensive province in Spain, behind only the Balearic Islands and now ahead of Madrid. Within Andalusia it has no rival: the Andalusian average is €221.4 per square metre, and the second most expensive province, Cádiz, stands at €246.4.

The gap widens in municipalities with more than 50,000 inhabitants, which in the province means the capital and the large coastal towns. There, land sold for €653.5 per square metre, 38.8% more than a year earlier and the highest level since the third quarter of 2007. The national average for this group of municipalities is €430.6.

Who is buying land in Málaga, and how much money is involved?

The most revealing figure is not the price but the money. Land sales in the province added up to €304.3 million in the second quarter, 20% of everything spent on urban land in Spain (€1,521 million): no other province moved as much, not even Madrid (€269.4 million). Within Andalusia, two out of every three euros spent on land went to Málaga. For the first half of the year, the provincial total reaches €479.6 million, two and a half times the figure for the same period of 2025.

The buyer profile is changing too. In Málaga, 53.5% of land purchases were signed by companies, against a national average of 33.4%, and their purchases grew by 33.3% in a year. That is the typical footprint of developers and professional investors securing land for future projects: good news for the supply of new homes, but at a higher starting cost.

Can a 26.9% rise in a year be trusted?

The statistic needs careful reading. The average price is calculated by plot-size bands and weighted by how many plots of each size are sold, so a quarter with many small, central sites, which cost more per square metre, pushes the average up. Indeed, between the fourth quarter of 2025 and the second quarter of 2026 the figure for Málaga jumped from €296.2 to €445.4. Smoothing out the swings with the average of the last four quarters, the annual rise comes down to 7.5%, from €328 to €352 per square metre.

Even so, the underlying trend is clear. The 2025 annual average, €323.9 per square metre, already beat that of 2009 (€318.2), the highest in the series until then, and the second-quarter figure is 19% above the previous quarterly record of €374.2, set in the third quarter of 2009. Spain as a whole, by contrast, is still 27% below its peak of €285 in the third quarter of 2007.

What are sellers asking for a plot on the Costa del Sol?

To bring the statistic down to street level, we reviewed the urban plots for sale in our portfolio in September 2026: 459 plots with a published price and size. The median is €600,000 for a plot of 1,418 square metres, about €418 per square metre, and almost a third (147) are priced at €1 million or more. These are asking prices, not closing prices, and many are plots for a single villa rather than large sites for developments. The table covers municipalities with at least 12 plots.

The range is huge. In Marbella the median is around €870 per square metre of plot, and in Benahavís, where plots are twice the overall median size (3,000 square metres), the median price is €1.26 million. At the other end, Mijas has the largest supply, with 106 plots at €288 per square metre, and inland, Ojén and Coín come in below €215.

What does it mean for new-build prices?

Land is the first bill in any development, and on the Costa del Sol it comes on top of construction that is moving slowly. According to the Bank of Spain, only 35% of the homes provided for in the zoning plans of the Málaga urban area have actually been built. With land scarcer and more expensive, new homes are unlikely to get cheaper.

Our portfolio reflects this. In September 2026, new-build homes are listed at a median of €5,819 per built square metre, 24.4% more than resale homes (€4,676). The premium varies widely from one municipality to another:

The premium is not only about land: buyers also pay for energy efficiency, guarantees and brand-new communal areas. But with land at record prices, the gap is unlikely to narrow, because the plots being bought today are the homes that will be handed over a few years from now.

What should you do if you are buying: new build, resale or a plot?

• New build: compare the price per square metre with resale homes in the same area, and insist that the developer guarantees your stage payments with a bank guarantee or insurance policy.
• Resale: the gap with new builds, a median of €1,143 per square metre in our portfolio, is the budget you have to renovate.
• A plot: before paying, ask the town hall for a planning certificate confirming the land classification, how much can be built and whether the plot is a fully serviced building plot, with road access, water, power and sewerage.
• Building costs and timing: add the project, the building licence, municipal fees and the construction tax (ICIO) to the price of the land, and allow several months of paperwork before work can start.
• Purchase taxes: if the plot is sold by a private owner, you pay 7% transfer tax (ITP) in Andalusia; if the seller is a company, 21% VAT, not the 10% applied to homes, plus 1.2% stamp duty (AJD).

In short: what changes for buyers?

Record land prices make no home on the Costa del Sol any cheaper: they prop up new-build prices and make it worth comparing with resale homes before you decide. If you are weighing up a new development, a home to renovate or a plot to build on, we can help you compare prices per square metre, area by area, using the data from our portfolio.

Sources: Ministry of Housing and Urban Agenda (Land Price Statistics, second quarter of 2026), Bank of Spain (Annual Report 2025) and listings in our portfolio (September 2026).

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