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Weekly digest · Edition 1
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.
This week in numbers
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.
- Regulation is stable this week: Platja d'Aro will not cut tourist licences before the Catalan deadline of November 2028; the Mas Maig special plan received provisional approval on 21 September; the non-EU buyer tax remains stalled in Congress.
- Our positioning: buyers with a signed arras should lock a fixed or mixed rate before 29 October; sellers above one million euros should price to the last three comparables and budget for a longer marketing period; owners of licensed tourist flats should document the licence, which is part of the value until 2028.
1. Rates and mortgages
The 12-month Euribor averaged 3.243% in September 2026, up from 2.954% in August and 2.172% in September 2025, and the daily fixing closed the month at 3.362%. The move follows the ECB's decision of 10 September to raise its three rates by 25 bp (deposit facility 2.50%, main refinancing 2.65%, marginal lending 2.90%, effective 16 September), its second increase of 2026, taken with euro-area inflation at 3.3% in August and oil near 100 dollars a barrel. Spain's September flash CPI of 4.9% (core 3.1%, harmonised 5.0%), published on 29 September, is the highest since February 2023 and makes a third rise on 29 October a live possibility.
The INE's July mortgage statistics (published 28 September) show the transmission: 43,372 home mortgages, −3.5% y/y and −5.5% on June; average loan 180,785 € (+10.9%); average initial rate 3.01%, with the fixed-rate average up to 3.03% from 2.89% in June and the fixed share down to 62.3%. Catalonia signed 4.9% more home mortgages than in July 2025. The Registradores' Q2 data show the average mortgage at a record 176,453 € over 25.7 years, with the fixed share down 3.3 points on the quarter to 63.8% as buyers drift to mixed and variable products.
| Best offers, 30 Sept 2026 (HelpMyCash) | Rate | TAE | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fixed, via broker | 2.10% TIN | 2.35% | with linked products |
| Fixed, Ibercaja | 2.55% TIN | 3.49% | |
| Fixed, Banca March | 2.65% TIN | 3.01% | |
| Fixed, Sabadell | 2.75% TIN | 3.58% | |
| Mixed, via broker | 1.40% 5 yrs, then Euribor + 0.40 | ||
| Mixed, Sabadell | 1.80% 3 yrs, then Euribor + 0.70 | ||
| Mixed, Pibank | 1.99% 4 yrs, then Euribor + 0.68 | ||
| Variable, via broker | Euribor + 0.30 | 3.55% | |
| Variable, Kutxabank | Euribor + 0.49 | 3.82% | |
| Variable, Sabadell | Euribor + 0.50 | 4.12% |
Published offers for well-qualified borrowers; TAE generally assumes the bank's linked products. Several banks raised fixed rates in the second half of September.
What the numbers mean on a 300,000 € loan over 25 years: 1,286 € a month at 2.10% fixed, 1,384 € at 2.75% fixed, 1,424 € at the July average of 3.01%, and 1,510 € on the best variable at today's Euribor. The gap between the best fixed and the best variable is about 224 € a month, which is the price of certainty through the next two ECB meetings.
What it means
The fixed window below 2.5% is closing. A buyer with an arras signed should lock the offer now rather than wait for the notary date; a buyer still searching should get a binding offer (FEIN) that holds for the search period. Variable borrowers from 2024–25 should price a switch to a mixed product before the January resets.
2. Prices and inventory
The INE house price index rose 12.2% y/y in Q2 2026 (Q1: 12.9%), second-hand +12.9% and new +7.4%, +3.4% on the quarter; Catalonia +10.1%; the 45th consecutive quarterly rise. The Registradores put the average price of homes sold in Q2 at 2,487 €/m², +2.4% on the quarter. These are registry measures and lag the market by one to two quarters.
On the portals the bay has been flat since June. idealista's August report has Girona province at 2,913 €/m² (+10.1% y/y, five euros below the May 2007 peak), Castell-Platja d'Aro at 4,076 €/m² (−0.3% m/m, −0.5% q/q, +7.1% y/y) and Sant Feliu de Guíxols at 3,307 €/m² (−1.0%, −0.8%, +7.1%). Elsewhere on the coast Palamós rose 16.4% y/y and Begur 3.3%. RealAdvisor's September model gives Castell-Platja d'Aro 4,480 €/m² (apartments 4,639, +10.8%; houses 4,063, +6.7%) and Sant Feliu 3,323 €/m² (apartments 3,261, +11.0%; houses 3,456, +8.1%).
| Town (habitaclia, 1 Oct 2026) | For sale | Median apartment | €/m² | Median house | €/m² | Rentals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Platja d'Aro | 742 | 395,000 € | 4,766 | 1,100,000 € | 3,388 | 47 |
| S'Agaró | 125 | 450,000 € | 5,509 | 1,390,000 € | 5,794 | 15 |
| Castell d'Aro | 71 | 295,000 € | 3,222 | 473,500 € | 2,211 | 1 |
| Sant Feliu de Guíxols | 599 | 270,000 € | 3,051 | 580,000 € | 3,125 | 30 |
Emerald snapshot of habitaclia, 1 October 2026: asking prices; medians by property type from 1,541 listing cards; totals are the portal's counts. This table is the weekly baseline; changes will be shown from edition 2.
Inventory is 1,537 homes for sale and 93 long-term rentals across the four towns. New-build is 84 listings (5.8%), 59 of them in Platja d'Aro; the front-line towers at Passeig Marítim 94 and 100 ask medians of 9,280 and 11,287 €/m², against 4,648 €/m² for a second-hand apartment in the same town.
What it means
Two true stories: the registry says +12% and the portals say flat. Closed prices this autumn will still look strong because they reflect spring agreements; new asking prices have stopped rising and the stock listed since spring is now overpriced by the summer's inflation. Buyers have room to negotiate on second-hand listings older than ninety days; sellers should not price to the INE headline.
3. Transactions and demand
The Colegio de Registradores' Q2 2026 statistics, published this week in the press, count 167,934 home sales in Spain, −2.3% y/y (new 34,919, −11.5% q/q; second-hand 133,015, −4.0% q/q). Foreign buyers took 15.98% of purchases nationally, 17.63% in Catalonia and 25.48% in Girona province, the highest share in the region though below Alicante, Málaga and the Balearics. The largest nationalities were British (6.99%), Dutch (6.94%), German (6.11%), Moroccan (6.09%) and Romanian (5.70%); 57.4% of foreign buyers were EU nationals.
What it means
The bay's buyer pool is European and largely equity-financed above one million euros, which insulates the top of the market from the Euribor; the 300,000–700,000 € apartment band in Platja d'Aro and Sant Feliu is mortgage-financed and will feel it first. The stalled non-EU tax (see Regulation) matters for British, Swiss, Ukrainian and American buyers, who continue under existing rules.
4. Regulation and policy
- Tourist licences, Platja d'Aro: about 3,000 HUT licences for roughly 1,400 flats in tourist use and 370 empty flats (mayor's figures, 29 August). The council will not cut licences before the Catalan cap of 10 per 100 inhabitants takes effect in November 2028; its plan targets empty flats with IBI exemptions, subsidies and the conversion of closed commercial premises, plus 40 council flats within two years with no tourist use.
- Tensioned areas: Sant Feliu de Guíxols is declared (rent caps on new contracts by reference to the official index); Castell-Platja d'Aro is not, as of 1 October.
- Planning: Platja d'Aro's council gave provisional approval to the Pla Especial 'Mas Maig' on 21 September; final approval rests with the Generalitat. We will analyse the permitted uses when the text is published.
- Non-EU buyers: the proposed 100% tax on purchases by non-resident non-EU buyers remains stalled in Congress after Junts withdrew support in March; the next general election is due by August 2027.
- Taxes unchanged: ITP 10–13% on second-hand homes (600,000 / 900,000 / 1.5 M€ thresholds); 10% VAT + 1.5% AJD on new homes.
5. New developments
Group de Palol's four projects remain the private pipeline on the bay: Sa Caleta (S'Agaró, finished, 12 apartments of 203 m² from 2.5 M€), Lleida 41 (beachfront, 18 apartments from 790,000 €, August 2027), Roma 12 (53 apartments from 370,000 €, August 2027) and Selva I (10 townhouses from 1.25 M€, August 2027). On the portals, new-build in Platja d'Aro asks a median 7,543 €/m², a 62% premium to second-hand apartments; in Castell d'Aro the one new building (12 flats, 235,000–335,000 €) is priced below the second-hand stock around it.
Public pipeline: 40 council flats in Platja d'Aro within two years; 70 public rental homes in Sant Feliu on the former Trachsler cork-factory plots (more than six million euros, three to four years from 2025). Neither arrives before 2027–28 and neither competes with the second-home market. The full new-developments report is on the Insights page.
6. Deals and capital markets
- Blackstone is reported to be preparing the sale of Hotel Investment Partners (HIP), Spain's largest resort-hotel owner, in what would be one of Europe's largest hotel transactions of 2026 (August).
- Hotel Bakour Costa Brava (Roses, 110 rooms, four stars) was sold to a local investor in May, with Colliers advising and Checkin Hotel Group taking over the operation: local family capital is still buying Costa Brava hospitality.
- No institutional residential transactions were recorded on the bay this week; the market remains one of private sales, mostly below three million euros.
7. Tourism and the local economy
Summer 2026 closed strong: Catalonia's hotels ran at about 85% in high season, Girona province at 75.8% in June–July (+2.15 points) with an average price of 129 € (+10.65 €), the 12 August total solar eclipse filled the coast, and the 11 September bridge reached about 80%. Tourist-flat yields on the bay held up through the licence debate, which supports asking prices for licensed flats and explains why owners are not converting them to long-term lets voluntarily.
8. Outlook and the week ahead
Base case: local asking prices flat to slightly down through the winter, closing 2026 some 5–8% above December 2025; transactions down mid-single digits on 2025; Euribor between 3.2% and 3.6% through Q1 2027 unless the oil shock reverses; rental supply scarce; licence values hold. Upside risk: a Middle-East de-escalation that pulls the Euribor back under 3%. Downside risk: a third ECB rise plus a weak euro-area winter pushing 2021–22 variable-rate buyers to sell in the 300,000–600,000 € band.
Calendar
- 2 October: Euribor daily fixings; September monthly average confirmed by the Banco de España.
- Mid-October: INE final September CPI.
- Late October: INE mortgage statistics for August 2026.
- 29 October: ECB monetary policy decision (no new projections); 17 December: decision with projections.
- November: Registradores Q3 2026 real estate statistics (foreign-buyer shares by province).
- Early December: INE house price index, Q3 2026.
- Pending: publication of the approved Pla Especial Mas Maig text; Platja d'Aro council's housing-plan ordinances; Congress calendar on the non-EU purchase tax.
Sources and data
- INE — Índice de Precios de Vivienda, Q2 2026 (7 Sept 2026)
- INE — Estadística de Hipotecas, July 2026 (28 Sept 2026)
- INE — Indicador adelantado del IPC, September 2026 (29 Sept 2026)
- Colegio de Registradores — Estadística Registral Inmobiliaria, Q2 2026
- Banco de España — ECB decision of 10 September 2026
- Banco de España — Euribor monthly averages
- HelpMyCash — Mejores hipotecas, 30 September 2026
- idealista — price reports, August 2026
- RealAdvisor — Castell-Platja d'Aro price model, September 2026
- Ràdio Capital — Platja d'Aro housing plan (29 Aug 2026); Sant Feliu Trachsler project
- Ajuntament de Castell-Platja d'Aro — plenary, 21 September 2026
- ViaEmpresa — summer 2026 hotel season
- Emerald Properties — habitaclia snapshot, 1 October 2026 (1,541 listing cards)
This material is general market information prepared by Emerald Properties S.L. from the public sources listed. It is not investment, legal or tax advice and not a valuation of any specific property. Figures are those published by the sources on the dates stated and may be revised; portal snapshots count asking prices, not closed sales.
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