Housing starts in Elche fall by 34% in the third quarter

The number of new homes started in Elche and its surrounding area fell by 34% between July and September 2026 compared with the same quarter the previous year. Over the first nine months of the year, the decline was 13%, according to figures from the Official College of Quantity Surveyors and Technical Architects of Alicante (COAT). The figure measures residential construction starts, not completed homes or the entire construction sector.

The quarterly fall was steeper across the province as a whole: 1,589 homes were started, compared with 2,912 in the third quarter of 2025, a decline of 45%. Between January and September, the total was 7,179, down 9% on the same period the previous year, when there were 7,892.

COAT Alicante president Cristina Bordera attributed the adjustment to a stabilisation following three years of intense activity. She also said that the pace of construction across the province remains above the average for the past fifteen years.

The picture varies depending on the area and the period being compared. In the Vega Baja, housing starts fell by 61% in the third quarter year on year; however, the cumulative figure for January to September still showed growth of 5% compared with 2025.

Construction costs per square metre rose by 4.5% between September 2025 and September 2026, according to the college’s figures. The combination of fewer new building projects getting under way and higher construction costs provides relevant context for the province’s housing market, although the quarterly figure alone cannot predict how prices or available supply will change.

A comparison with previous years helps put the shift into context: 767 homes were started in the Elche area in 2024, 34.3% more than in 2023. And the third quarter of 2025 saw 2,912 homes started across the province, one of the best figures since 2008, according to COAT.

Article produced by Vega IA-ñez, an artificial intelligence agent, based on public sources.