Tensions within the housing market continued to accentuate in 2025. And that strain was mirrored in house costs, which for the primary time exceeded the degrees of 2007, the yr through which the true property bubble reached its peak. According to the General Council of Notaries, the worth of housing elevated by 7.5% final yr. But the market at present and virtually 20 years in the past has little to do with it: the development of recent residences has plummeted, the proportion of international consumers has greater than doubled and younger individuals have been virtually excluded from the market. According to information from notaries, solely 9.6% of those that bought a house final yr have been between 18 and 30 years previous, in comparison with 22.5% in 2007.
The notaries, who offered their new statistical portal this Tuesday in Barcelona, have outlined their x-ray of the true property market in 2025. The worth of the residential market continued its climb, reaching the values of 2007 in nominal phrases (that’s, with out discounting inflation). In basic, housing costs rose by 7.5%, though multi-family housing – which excludes single-family properties, however permits for higher comparisons – rose by 10% final yr, reaching a median of two,194 euros per sq. meter.
The basic director of the Technological Center of Notaries, Albert Martínez Lacambra, has identified that the seams of the market are damaged on the provision facet, unable to soak up the excessive demand. “There is still a problem of lack of housing construction, but we will have a serious problem in the coming years, especially if we are not able to organize public transport, process licenses or high speed. It is evident that it is a pressure cooker,” he acknowledged.
According to the notaries, between 2022 and 2024, 720,000 properties have been created, whereas 274,000 properties have been completed, leading to a deficit of 446,000 properties. According to the identical information, through the growth of the 2000s, 658,500 properties have been constructed at a time when the creation of properties was slower, simply 431,000 per yr. These information, particularly, correspond to 2006. And that yr residences grew to become dearer by 9.1%, based on the Ministry of Housing.
The common age of buy in Spain, based on information from the General Council of Notaries, is 44 years. This delay is already indicative that younger individuals proceed to represent one of many teams most affected by present market situations. Furthermore, the state of affairs has solely worsened over time. “In 2007, one in every four apartments was bought by a young person and now only one in every ten does,” mentioned Martínez Lacambra.
One of the principle obstacles to accessing house possession, as acknowledged, is the dearth of financial savings. According to notaries, in Spain financial savings corresponding to five.39 years of earnings are wanted to entry an house. “It is true that the population has aged, but that proportion is below its total weight in the population, 13.6%. They cannot find rent, they cannot buy, they do not finance 100% of the mortgage and they have to pay 10% of the Property Transfer Tax,” he added.
More international consumers
Foreign consumers have additionally elevated from 7.5% to virtually 20% between 2007 and 2025, though Martínez Lacambra has warned that that is additionally as a result of improve in migration, which is resulting in a very good a part of the creation of recent properties and whose buying energy has improved. In reality, 12.5% of house consumers final yr have been resident foreigners, whereas 7.2% have been non-residents.
Last yr, the Government of Pedro Sánchez proposed a 100% tax for international consumers not resident within the European Union. And the Catalan Generalitat, for instance, already applies an ITP of 20% to giant homeowners who purchase used housing. Martínez Lacambra has requested for warning when adopting measures to cease purchases from foreigners and recalled that 90% of transactions correspond to people. “Let’s be careful, because in some places we will end up causing some no small damage,” he assured.
The notaries have stopped to interrupt down the info from town of Barcelona, the place the proportion of international consumers has quintupled for the reason that peak of the market and the place their presence is producing extra controversy. The mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni, has lately acknowledged that he would prohibit non-resident foreigners from buying summer season homes within the metropolis. Statistics from the General Council of Notaries point out that the overwhelming majority of consumers are residents: one in 4 purchases are made by residents born overseas who stay within the metropolis. Even so, the presence of non-residents within the housing market of the Catalan capital has multiplied virtually tenfold, as much as 5%.
The presence of international consumers is way larger in vacationer areas. 150 kilometers from the Catalan capital, in Roses (Girona), foreigners – virtually all French – took over 70% of the properties final yr, the notaries have highlighted. But this development happens usually in different areas of the Mediterranean, corresponding to Alicante (51.5%), Malaga (43%) or the Balearic Islands (39%). Also within the Canary Islands (35%), the place Spain has already requested the European Union to ban the acquisition of second properties by foreigners to facilitate the acquisition for younger individuals and susceptible teams.
The occasion of the notaries in Barcelona, exactly, started with the emergence of a bunch of activists from the Platform for People Affected by Mortgages (PAH), who demanded that Junts help the anti-eviction moratorium subsequent Thursday that might be voted on within the Congress of Deputies after it rejected it final January.
https://elpais.com/economia/vivienda/2026-02-24/los-jovenes-apenas-compraron-una-de-cada-10-viviendas-que-se-vendieron-en-2025.html