The demand for housing in the Canary Islands is shifting from buying and selling to renting. According to the report X-ray of the housing market in the Canary Islands in the first half of 2025, prepared by Fotocasa Research, in 2024 18% of people were looking to buy or had bought a home in the Canary Islands. However, this year it has decreased to 14%. Meanwhile, the rental market has partially absorbed this decrease: currently, 15% of Canarians demand some type of rental housing, which represents a growth of two points in the last year.
On the other hand, it highlights that "there is an imbalance between supply and demand in both markets." As mentioned, 14% of Canarians would like to acquire a home, but only 2% have put a property on the market in the last twelve months, one point less than in 2024.
If these percentages are broken down (it should be noted that this is a survey with multiple answers, in which an individual may be performing several actions at the same time), it is observed that, among the applicants, 2% have effectively bought a home (one point more than in 2024), while 12% have tried without success (five points less than a year ago). For their part, among the offerers, 1% have effectively sold a property, while another 1% have not succeeded.
“In the buying and selling market, the gap between supply and demand is very marked: 14% of Canarians show an active interest in buying a home, but only 2% have put a property up for sale. We have been experiencing a very high demand for four years that is not met by the supply, which is generating strong pressure on prices that are rising at a rate of almost 11%. This same dynamic is repeated in rentals, where demand has grown to 15%, while supply continues to gradually decrease. This has led to the Canary Islands reaching maximum rental prices in May 2025. This imbalance that is maintained over time makes it increasingly difficult for Canarians to access housing, both in ownership and in rental regime,” explains María Matos, Director of Studies and spokesperson for Fotocasa.
The supply of rentals is reduced in the Canary Islands
On the other hand, the rental segment also presents a significant imbalance between supply and demand. Thus, 15% of Canarians are currently participating in some way in the demand for rental housing, two points more than a year ago.
This percentage breaks down into 5% who have effectively rented a complete home (one point less than in 2024), 1% who reside as a tenant in a room (one point less year-on-year), 7% who have looked for rental housing without success (same as last year) and 2% who have demanded to rent a room without success (one point below the previous year).
On the supply side, this is reduced to 3% of individuals who put a rental apartment on the market, three points less than a year ago.
If both segments are observed globally, in the entire island real estate market there are 25% of Canarians who would like to change homes, but only 4% have put a residential property on the market in the last twelve months. This notable imbalance in the Canarian real estate market has been maintained during the last year, but with a general contraction, since demand has fallen by four percentage points, but supply has plummeted by five points.
Fall in total activity in the Canarian real estate market
In line with this phenomenon, if the total activity of the Canarian real estate market is observed, it has experienced a fall in the last year. Currently, there is a rebound in this activity compared to the second half of 2024, although the figures for February 2025 are low compared to the same month of the previous year.
In general, 28% of Canarians have participated in the real estate market in the last year, a percentage that is two points above the national average (26%), but which is five points below the same rate in the Canary Islands in the first half of 2024 (when it was 33%).
Finally, the weight of buying and selling and that of renting has been reversed in the housing market as a whole today. If the activity is broken down according to the segment and the aggregate supply and demand are offered, it can be seen that in the Canary Islands both markets attract a different volume of respondents. Thus, 17% of individuals are currently participating in the rental market (same as in 2024), while 15% are doing so in the buying and selling segment (five points less than a year ago). On the contrary, in the second half of 2024, both segments registered the same participation rate (21%).
