Cheap property in Alicante and on the Costa Blanca: where the real opportunity lies in 2026

Alicante province is one of the most varied in Spain in property terms. Within a 50-kilometre radius you can find beachfront apartments with active international demand, flats in residential neighbourhoods of the provincial capital with yields of 7-8%, commercial premises on the main shopping streets of tourist towns, and homes in the inland part of the province at the prices of a small town in the nineties. Knowing which segment to work in, and why, is the difference between a smart investment and a starry-eyed purchase made for the sunshine.

The city of Alicante has more than 330,000 inhabitants, is the capital of one of the most touristic provinces in Europe and combines a service economy with demand for both permanent residential lets and seasonal holiday lets. Together, those factors make for a more complex market than it seems at first sight.

The province's price map: from the coast to the interior

The price gap in Alicante province is one of the most pronounced in Spain. On the seafront in towns such as Benidorm, Altea or Calpe, prices can exceed €3,000-4,000/m² for apartments with direct sea views. In the city of Alicante, the average price is now around €2,600-2,700/m², with big differences between neighbourhoods. In inland towns such as Alcoy, Elche (inland area), Villena or Novelda, prices fall to €800-1,900/m².

For a yield-focused investor, that map reads clearly: the higher prices of the tourist coast produce lower residential rental yields (rents don't rise in proportion to the purchase price), and the only models that justify those prices are holiday lets with good occupancy and capital appreciation on quality assets in premium locations.

The city of Alicante: the neighbourhoods with the best ratio for residential investors

• Carolinas (Bajas and Altas): Residential neighbourhoods north of the old town. Prices of around €2,000-2,300/m². A high density of residential lets, with demand from service-sector and public-administration workers. 80 m² flats for around €160,000-180,000.
• Juan XXIII and Virgen del Remedio: Working-class neighbourhoods with very stable rental demand. Prices of around €1,400/m², after rising by almost 30% in a year. For the pure cash-flow profile with a lower entry price.
• Old town and El Barrio: The most touristic and expensive part of the city. Prices between €1,800 and €2,500/m². Potential for licensed holiday lets, but strong competition and growing restrictions. Tighter residential rental yields (5-6%).
• Playa de San Juan (municipality of Alicante): A mid-to-upmarket residential area on Alicante's urban beach. Prices between €3,500 and €4,000/m². Seasonal holiday letting is very active in summer. For the mixed residential and holiday-let profile, it is the most balanced area of the city.

The towns of the coastal strip: Torrevieja, Guardamar and the Vega Baja

The south of Alicante province (the Vega Baja district, with Torrevieja, Orihuela Costa, Guardamar del Segura and the towns around the Bajo Segura) has a very specific market profile: a high concentration of foreign buyers (especially British, German and Scandinavian), a housing stock of apartments built between the 1980s and the 2000s, and a local economy heavily dependent on tourism and services.

In Torrevieja the average is now around €2,900/m²: a 60 m² apartment costs about €175,000. Holiday lets in high season (July-August) achieve good occupancy rates. But you have to work out the real annual average: outside that season, occupancy can be very low, and permanent residential lets in the area are harder to fill with the kind of tenant an investor is looking for.

Elche: the province's most undervalued market

Elche is the second-largest city in Alicante province (about 245,000 inhabitants), with an economy based on the footwear industry, agriculture and services. It isn't a typical tourist destination, which means purchase prices are significantly lower than in the coastal towns and rental demand is more residential and stable.

The average price in the city of Elche is around €1,850/m². The neighbourhoods of interest to investors are in the expansion districts (such as Carrús or El Pla), with good rental demand from workers in the footwear and logistics industries. Elche also has access to the TRAM (Alicante's tram network) and good motorway links with the provincial capital.

The interior of the province: Alcoy, Villena and the Montaña Alicantina

The inland towns of Alicante province have the lowest prices and the highest potential yields, at the cost of smaller, shallower rental markets. Alcoy (60,000 inhabitants) has resale prices of around €1,300/m². Its traditional industry (textiles, metalworking) is still active, though changing. For investors who accept small markets, potential yields are 9% to 13%.

Villena (30,000 inhabitants) has prices below €800/m² in many areas. It is the kind of market where the investment ticket is very low (three-bedroom flats for €40,000-60,000) and where due diligence on rental demand is especially important: is there enough sustained demand to keep the flat let continuously? That question has to be answered before any deal.

Bank-owned property in Alicante province

Alicante is one of the Spanish provinces with the largest portfolios of bank-repossessed property, the result of the 2008-2012 property crisis, which hit the Mediterranean coast particularly hard. The main players:

• Sareb (Spain's "bad bank"): A portfolio that comes mainly from Bankia (heir to Bancaja) and Banco de Valencia. Much of its housing is now earmarked for public rental (Casa 47); what it does sell is marketed by servicers such as Aliseda or goes to auction. Properties all over the province, most concentrated in the coastal towns and the Alicante urban area.
• Banco Sabadell: Heir to the CAM, the Alicante savings bank that the Bank of Spain awarded to it in December 2011, it has a significant portfolio of repossessed property in the province, including homes as well as commercial premises and land. It sells them through Solvia.
• CaixaBank: Also a significant player in repossessed property in the province, especially along the southern coastal strip.

Court auctions in Alicante: busier than the national average

Alicante province has more court auctions than the national average relative to its size, a reflection of the high level of mortgage debt it built up during the 2000s cycle. The auction portal of the BOE (Spain's Official State Gazette) constantly shows auctions in towns across the province, with a particularly notable concentration in the city of Alicante, Elche, Torrevieja and the towns of the southern coastal strip.

Competition at auctions in Alicante is moderate to high for well-located coastal properties (where foreign investors are also taking part more and more often) and low to moderate for properties in inland towns and in non-tourist neighbourhoods of the city. Winning bids range from 60% to 85% of the appraised value, depending on the property and the competition.

Related resources: For the stock of properties available in the province, see opportunities in Alicante. For the foreign-investor model on the Costa Blanca, the article on investing in Spain as a foreigner covers all the paperwork and the applicable taxes.