Insights
Weekly digest
An institutional-grade briefing: rates, prices, transactions, regulation, developments, deals and tourism, with a calendar for the week ahead.
Edition 1 · 1 October 2026 · Read
- Home
- Insights
Insights
The bay's property market, read every week from primary sources.
Prices, inventory, mortgage rates, regulation, new developments and deals for Platja d'Aro, S'Agaró, Castell d'Aro and Sant Feliu de Guíxols. We work from the INE, the Land Registry, the ECB, the portals and the town-hall minutes, we show the numbers, and we say what we think they mean. Updated every Monday.
This week in numbers
3.243%
12-month Euribor, September 2026 monthly average (2.954% in August; 2.172% a year ago)
2.50%
ECB deposit facility rate since 16 September, after the second 25 bp rise of 2026
+12.2%
INE house price index, Q2 2026 versus Q2 2025; Catalonia +10.1%
4,076 €/m²
asking price in Castell-Platja d'Aro, idealista, August 2026: −0.3% on the month, +7.1% on the year
25.5%
of home purchases in Girona province in Q2 2026 were by foreign buyers (Registradores)
1,537
homes for sale on habitaclia across the four towns on 1 October 2026, and 93 long-term rentals
Insights
Market analysis
The quarterly review of the Aro bay housing market: macro, prices from national to street level, demand, supply, rentals, regulation and our outlook.
Updated 1 October 2026 · Read
Insights
New developments
The new-build pipeline on the bay: what is selling, at what price per square metre, the public-housing projects, and how to buy off-plan safely.
Updated 1 October 2026 · Read
Insights
News
Dated, sourced items that move this market: central-bank decisions, statistics releases, council decisions, licences, deals and tax changes.
Latest: 30 September 2026 · Read
Weekly digest · Edition 1 · 1 October 2026
Rates bite, prices hold, inventory thin.
The ECB's second rise of the year has pushed the 12-month Euribor above 3.2%, Spanish inflation printed 4.9%, mortgage approvals are slipping nationally, and yet asking prices on the bay are flat on the month and 7% up on the year with 1,537 homes for sale and 93 to rent. This first edition sets the baseline for the weeks ahead: every figure is dated and sourced, and we say what we think it means for a buyer or a seller in Platja d'Aro, S'Agaró, Castell d'Aro and Sant Feliu de Guíxols.
Executive summary
- Money got dearer again. The ECB raised its deposit rate to 2.50% on 10 September (effective 16 September), the 12-month Euribor averaged 3.243% in September against 2.172% a year ago, and banks lifted fixed mortgage offers in the last fortnight. A 300,000 € variable mortgage at Euribor + 0.30 resets about 167 € a month higher than last year.
- Prices are still rising on the registry (INE +12.2% y/y in Q2, Catalonia +10.1%) but have stopped rising on the portals: Castell-Platja d'Aro 4,076 €/m² in August, −0.3% on the month and −0.5% on the quarter; Sant Feliu 3,307 €/m², −1.0% and −0.8%.
- Volumes are softening from a high base: 167,934 sales in Spain in Q2 (−2.3% y/y), new-build sales −11.5% on the quarter, home mortgages −3.5% y/y in July. Catalonia is the exception, with +4.9% more mortgages than a year ago, and Girona province keeps the highest foreign-buyer share in the region at 25.48%.
- Supply is thin: 1,537 homes for sale across the four towns and only 93 long-term rentals, a ratio of 16 to 1. New-build is 5.8% of what is listed, and front-line new-build on the Passeig Marítim asks 9,300–11,300 €/m².
News
What moved the market, with the source for each item.
- Rates
Banks lift fixed mortgage rates as the Euribor tops 3.3%
HelpMyCash's 30 September comparison shows the best fixed offers at 2.10% TIN (2.35% TAE) through brokers, with Banca March at 2.65%, Ibercaja 2.55% and Sabadell 2.75% TIN; mixed products start at 1.40% for five years then Euribor + 0.40, and the best variable is Euribor + 0.30. Several banks have raised fixed rates in the last fortnight, citing the rise in market rates since the Iran crisis.
Source: HelpMyCash
- Rates
12-month Euribor averages 3.243% in September, +1.07 points in a year
The monthly average rose from 2.954% in August to 3.243% in September 2026 and the daily fixing closed the month at 3.362%. A year earlier the average was 2.172%. On a 300,000 € variable mortgage over 25 years at Euribor + 0.30 the annual reset adds about 167 € a month.
- Rates
Spanish inflation jumps to 4.9% in September, highest since February 2023
The INE flash estimate put annual CPI at 4.9% (4.3% in August), core at 3.1% and the harmonised index at 5.0%, driven by motor fuels and package holidays. The final figure is due in mid-October.
Source: INE
- Demand
Home mortgages fall 3.5% in July nationally; Catalonia +4.9%
The INE counted 43,372 home mortgages in July 2026, −3.5% year on year and −5.5% on the month, with a record average loan of 180,785 € (+10.9%). The average initial rate was 3.01%; the fixed-rate average rose to 3.03% from 2.89% in June, and the fixed share fell to 62.3%. Catalonia signed 4.9% more home mortgages than in July 2025.
Source: INE
- Demand
Foreign buyers take 25.5% of Girona-province purchases in Q2 2026
The Colegio de Registradores' Q2 statistics show 167,934 home sales in Spain (−2.3% year on year), with foreign buyers at 15.98% nationally, 17.63% in Catalonia and 25.48% in Girona province. British (6.99%), Dutch (6.94%), German (6.11%), Moroccan (6.09%) and Romanian (5.70%) buyers led; 57.4% of foreign buyers were EU nationals. New-home sales fell 11.5% on the quarter.
Source: Colegio de Registradores
Contact
Want this in your inbox?
Iryna sends the digest to clients every Monday. Write to her and say which towns and price range you follow.