Marbella is the town in Spain where you have to use the largest part of your income to buy a property

The indicator used as a reference by this appraisal company is the purchase effort ratio, which is the result of a theoretical exercise that simulates the percentage of disposable income that an average household would have to spend on the first instalment of a mortgage that covers 80 per cent of the value of an average home at current prices.

Having described the methodology, Tinsa concludes that an average Marbella household has to spend 63% of its annual income to pay the mortgage. It is, among the relevant municipalities in Spain excluding provincial capitals, the one in which this ratio is the highest. This is followed by Benidorm (Alicante), where 59% of household income is spent on a mortgage. This is followed by Hospitalet de Llobregat (Barcelona), with 56%.

The other municipality in Malaga that appears in the Tinsa data inventory is Vélez-Málaga, where the figure is not low either, given that the percentage of income needed to pay for housing is 50%. It is also, therefore, above 35%, which is the volume of household income that is considered reasonable to be used to pay for housing, according to international standards.

Tinsa, in a report published earlier this month, reveals that 67% of the municipalities analysed (the most relevant, but excluding provincial capitals) have theoretical purchase effort rates above the 35% that should not be exceeded. The study highlights that the aforementioned municipalities, Marbella, Benidorm and Hospitalet, top the ranking where the levels of access to housing are in a "critical" situation, because the income needed to pay the mortgage is above 45%.

The document details that the 25 municipalities with figures above this critical 45% are located in coastal locations of the Mediterranean arc and the coast of Cadiz. Thus, in addition to the aforementioned towns there are also, for example, Castelledefels and Sant Adrià de Besòs in Barcelona, as well as Torrevieja (Alicante) and Sanlúcar de Barrameda, in Cadiz. Meanwhile, away from the coast, the expensive towns are also in the region of Madrid, including Alcobendas, Alcorcón, Fuenlabrada, Torrejón de Ardoz and San Sebastián de los Reyes.

In fact, according to Tinsa data, around half of the municipalities studied have recorded year-on-year price increases of over 10%, which has been particularly intense in the metropolitan area of Madrid and in the coastal municipalities of Malaga, Valencia, A Coruña, Alicante, Cadiz and Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

Without going any further, the rise in housing prices recorded in Marbella has exceeded 20%, while in Vélez-Málaga it has been over 15%. Thus, the town of Marbella, with an average of 3,672 euros per square metre, is one of the most expensive in Spain, behind Sant Cugat del Vallès, Pozuelo de Alarcón, Majadahonda, Alcobendas, Castelldefels and Las Rozas.

Another interesting figure included in the Tinsa report compares the price of housing in the municipalities with those recorded in the capital city of the province in which they are located. In a total of eight coastal towns houses are more expensive than in the city. And this list once again includes Marbella, where the value per square metre is 31% higher than in the city of Malaga. Other municipalities in the same situation are Benidorm, Getxo, Gijón, Sant Cugat del Vallès, Vigo, Pozuelo de Alarcón and Orihuela. Furthermore, in comparison with the average price in the province, the price in Marbella is 41% higher.