How much can the price of an apartment be negotiated down? This question haunts thousands of buyers every time they see a listing, and the answer is not the same in Madrid as it is in Bilbao or Seville. But there is a starting point: on average, apartments are advertised at 15% above what is ultimately paid. This is revealed by an analysis by EL PAÍS across 57 cities, which cross-referenced listings on Idealista with the real prices recorded in notarial deeds. Behind that figure lies a combination of routine negotiation and a growing gap: sellers continue to look back at the years of steep price increases, while buyers are reaching the limits of their budgets.
The following chart shows three data points: the average asking price from listings published on the Idealista portal, the price of completed sales in each city, and the percentage difference — all for major cities and provincial capitals with a sufficient sample size, between April 2025 and April 2026 (the latest available data). The actual transaction price data is published by the General Council of Notaries.
The results reveal very significant differences between territories. In Granada (+35%), Cáceres (+33%) and Toledo (+32%), the gaps exceed 30%: translated into money, this represents discounts of more than 600 euros per square metre. Differences also range between 25% and 30% in cities such as Salamanca, Oviedo, Lugo, Alicante and Tarragona — implying reductions of between 300 and 570 euros per square metre. Even in more pressured markets, where the gap is smaller, the phenomenon remains significant: Valencia (+23%), Málaga (+21%) and Seville (+17%) show differences equivalent to between 440 and 715 euros per square metre relative to the initial asking price. In Madrid, the difference stands at 11%. At the opposite extreme, just three Catalan cities appear where homes end up selling above the median price — a factor determined in part by the housing shortage in those areas.
The differences, with few exceptions, are not isolated occurrences but have persisted throughout the 12 months analysed. In fact, trends in each city almost always move in tandem: where asking prices rise, so do transaction prices. In the following chart, you can select each city and see how both prices have evolved.
When comparing average prices at specific points in time, there are, as one would expect, factors that are not captured: commercialisation timelines, differences between samples, or the time lag that may exist between the publication of a listing and the final signing of the transaction.
However, the average gap of 15% between listed prices and prices ultimately paid is "coherent" with the current state of the market, according to José María Alfaro, president of the Federation of Real Estate Associations (FAI). He in fact argues that the interval has widened: "Two years ago it was much narrower, but for several months now adjustments to asking prices have begun," he states.
In his view, the phenomenon responds to a situation that is typical of expansionary phases of the real estate cycle. When prices rise rapidly over the course of years, sellers and buyers do not always adjust their expectations at the same pace. Property owners maintain a certain "upward inertia," while buyers increasingly find themselves up against stricter limits on purchasing power. This disconnect generates the gap that is subsequently reflected between listed prices and actual transaction prices. "We can simply say that it is an effect of the selling side overbraking," Alfaro summarizes.
However, not all experts consider that the difference between listings and closing prices should be interpreted solely as a measure of negotiation. As Alberto Martínez Lacambra, director general of the Notarial Technology Centre, points out, the listing and the closing of a purchase are different moments in the real estate process: asking prices reflect expectations, while notarial prices record completed transactions. Martínez Lacambra argues that it is common for sellers to try to maximize their asking price and subsequently adjust their aspirations when they perceive changes in demand trends. For this reason, he considers that the prices actually paid constitute "a more solid reference for measuring the real state of the market."
Understanding the size of the gap between listings and prices is useful for capturing two very different markets. On one hand, some of the country's main demand hotspots (such as Madrid or Barcelona), where the margin for price reductions is relatively narrow. On the other, a large portion of medium-sized and small cities, where the asking price remains a starting point with considerable room for negotiation.
Such is the case of Granada, with differences of up to 35%. The explanation for this gap can be found in the commercial mechanisms themselves, notes Sergio García, manager of the real estate agency SG in the Andalusian city. As he explains by phone, fierce competition among agencies to acquire property listings has for years encouraged the publication of listings with prices far above their real value. Many of these properties are subsequently repriced or disappear from the portals only to be relisted at new amounts.
Another factor compounds this: the psychological inertia of the boom years. "For a long time," García explains, "practically any property found a buyer." Many owners still come to the market with expectations built in that context and continue trying to maximize their asking price. However, demand is no longer always willing or able to absorb those figures. The result is an ever-widening space for reductions during negotiation.
**"People from Cáceres negotiate a lot"**
The gap between the listed price and what is ultimately paid does not depend solely on the negotiating ability of buyers and sellers. Even the cultural characteristics of each local market can play a role.
This is the case in Cáceres, according to Mariano García, a real estate agent and director of the Agencia García Márquez in the city. There, the market presents a very different balance from that of some major Spanish capitals: "There is no boom like the one taking place elsewhere," he explains. Although demand exists, it is far more restrained, and this completely changes the conditions of negotiations.
But the very profile of buyers influences the final outcome. "People from Cáceres negotiate a lot. They are very demanding clients who push hard," the professional summarises. In his view, this negotiating tradition forms part of the explanation for the substantial discounts that ultimately materialise in purchase and sale transactions.
The composition of the available housing stock also plays a relevant role. A significant proportion of the properties that come onto the market in Cáceres are old and require renovation work. The sharp increase in the cost of materials and refurbishments over recent years leads many buyers to deduct those future investments from the price they are willing to pay. The result is additional pressure to reduce the initially advertised amounts.
The paradox of two coexisting markets
Where negotiation appears to carry less weight is in a band of cities in the north and northeast of the peninsula, characterised by much smaller differences between asking prices and actual transaction prices. San Sebastián shows a gap of barely 1.8%; Huesca, 1.9%; Girona, 3.3%; and Vitoria, 4%. Zaragoza, Santander and Bilbao also show discounts far below those observed in other parts of the country. In these markets, supply and demand appear to meet far more readily. The advertised price ceases to act as a mere initial reference and moves much closer to the actual transaction price. In some cases, it is even exceeded. The most striking example is L'Hospitalet de Llobregat. There, sales closed at an average of 2,987 euros per square metre, compared with the 2,723 euros per square metre reflected in listings. This is the main anomaly identified by the analysis (-8.48%).
For Pau Manovel, owner of the estate agency Propi House, which operates in the area, the explanation lies in the extraordinary scarcity of available housing in a location where demand pressure remains very high. However, even there, signs are beginning to emerge that buyers are reaching certain limits. "We are seeing that bank valuations are in some respects also coming out relatively tight, even below the price at which the property is being sold," he explains. "That is also signalling that housing is reaching a ceiling — an unwritten ceiling, an invisible ceiling," he adds.
According to this real estate agent, in neighbourhoods such as La Florida or Les Planes, properties listed in very poor condition are abundant, including some that are occupied or vandalised, which come onto the market at relatively low prices. By contrast, the transactions that ultimately go through before a notary tend to correspond to properties in better condition or already refurbished. This difference in the composition of supply and sales may distort the comparison between advertised prices and closing prices.
Manovel also asserts that over recent months there has been a shift compared to the market a year ago. "This semester, there has been a little more room to negotiate the price," he states. In his view, many sellers previously maintained higher expectations because they were counting on the arrival of buyers capable of taking on greater financial strain. "There were more expectations, more enthusiasm, and more of a chance that a buyer might come along with that greater capacity for effort. Now it is true that you can see buyers ending up with the ability to negotiate a larger percentage off the final price," he concludes.
The paradox is that both trends coexist at the same time. While in some cities the gap between listing prices and actual transaction prices is widening because buyers have more room to negotiate, in others the shortage of supply remains so acute that certain deals continue to close very close to the asking price, or even above it. This coexistence of markets explains why the same question — how much room exists to negotiate on a property — continues to yield such different answers depending on where in Spain it is asked.
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