Homeownership continues to decline in the State

MadridSpain is increasingly a country of tenants, not owners. The proportion of households that own their main residence continued to decline in 2023 and 2024. Specifically, if in 2022 habitual residence ownership accounted for 72.1% of total households, two years ago the figure dropped to 70.6%, as shown by the new Survey of Family Finances (EFF) for 2024, which the Bank of Spain conducts every two years. In fact, in this year's report, published this Thursday, the supervisory body highlights that one of the "persistent problems" of the Spanish economy since 2022, when the last survey was published, remains the difficulty of accessing housing. "It significantly conditions the economic and financial situation of families," to the point that it has become a "persistent tension," according to the report.

Not even the relaxation of monetary policy by the European Central Bank with a decrease in interest rates changed the trend. While it "favored" an improvement in the credit environment, it "did not eliminate the accumulated tensions in terms of residential accessibility." For certain households (especially younger ones, those with lower income levels, and a significant portion of the foreign population), access to housing "continued to be a significant source of economic vulnerability throughout the period," indicates the Bank of Spain. This occurs after a period of time (2022-2024) marked by Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the consequent impact on prices, which was a setback for the post-pandemic recovery, but also for the "resilience" of the Spanish economy, which managed to avoid the inflationary crisis and consolidate a "phase of relatively robust growth" in 2024 with a decrease in inflation and a relaxation of financial conditions.

The fall in habitual owner-occupied housing is widespread, although it was more noticeable among the 80th and 90th percentiles in terms of income distribution (i.e., among the top 10% to 20% of earners). A dynamic, however, that coincides with the fact that among households with more wealth, other real estate properties and business participation gain weight. Also in households where the head of the family is between 35 and 44 years old and in the poorest ones. In contrast, a rebound is detected among younger households, which breaks with the decreasing trend that had been recorded since 2011.

Other properties

The ownership of real estate assets other than the main dwelling by families also remains widespread, affecting 45.3%. Specifically, 33.7% of households owned a dwelling that was not their main property, while 13.6% had plots of land and farms. The survey also indicates that the proportion of households with other real estate assets increases with income and net wealth, and reaches its highest values in households where the head of the family is between 65 and 74 years old, in households with a retired head of family, or where the head of family is self-employed, i.e., a freelancer.