Girona bucks regional trend with 2% sales growth
A total of 1,302 home sales were recorded in the province of Girona in July 2026, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE), marking a 2.04% increase compared to 1,276 sales in July 2025. This makes Girona the only Catalan province to report growth in housing transactions during that period. The figure is the fourth highest for a July since INE records began in 2007, trailing only behind 2022, 2024 and 2007 itself, the year before Spain's property bubble burst. At just two transactions short of the 2007 level, the market in Girona remains near historic highs.
New construction drives gains
The rise was fuelled entirely by new builds. Sales of new homes increased by 18.70%, rising from 262 to 311 transactions between July 2025 and July 2026. This represents the second-best July for new housing sales in the past decade, behind only 2024. Meanwhile, second-hand housing sales, which make up 76% of all transactions, declined by 2.27%. In absolute terms, new builds gained 49 sales while the used market lost 23. The overall positive balance was therefore solely due to new construction. The share of new builds in total sales also rose, from 20.5% in July 2025 to 23.9% in July 2026.
Sharp drop in protected housing sales
Sales of protected housing fell by 24.14% year-on-year, from 58 to 44 transactions. While this is a significant percentage drop, the total number of protected housing sales remains small, meaning small changes in volume lead to large percentage swings. Free-market housing accounted for 96% of all transactions in July 2026.
Catalonia and Spain see declines
The rest of Catalonia saw falling sales. Across the region, transactions dropped by 6.95% year-on-year to 10,075 sales in July 2026. Barcelona province fell by 7.57% to 6,689 sales, while Lleida and Tarragona saw steeper declines of 8.33% and 10.58% respectively. Without Girona’s figures, the combined sales in the other three provinces would have dropped by 8.15%. Nationally, Spain recorded 61,417 home sales in July, a 5.11% decrease from 64,722 a year earlier.
Market outlook
The data confirms a diverging housing market within Catalonia, with Girona standing out as an exception amid a broader national and regional slowdown. The resilience of Girona’s market appears closely tied to new construction activity, which continues to outperform second-hand transactions.
Primary sources: idescat.cat. Reported by diaridegirona.cat, noticiesdebarcelona.cat, Joan de Castro i Casadevall, rtve.es, elnacional.cat, APIIMMO003, ON ECONOMIA, Diari de Girona.
