In 2025, a milestone in the history of housing in Catalonia: the record for purchases is broken 17 years later

Barcelona2025 was on track to become a landmark year for home sales in Catalonia. And it was. While the number of transactions was exceptionally high every month of the year, the cumulative sales figures for 2007 were never surpassed. However, December was a particularly strong month, with 8,181 sales, 9.9% more than the previous December, bringing the annual total to 112,000. Exactly 1,100 more than in 2007.

Spain has not experienced the same trend, as throughout the year the number of home sales has been significantly lower than the record figures of 2007. In total, the year ended with 714,237 transactions across the country, far fewer than the 775,300 registered 19 years ago, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE). This difference indicates that the housing market in Catalonia has recovered more quickly from the bubble, something that contrasts with prices: while in Spain the value of houses recovered to pre-crisis levels in the first quarter of 2004, in Catalonia this did not happen until a year later. And in fact, the price of resale homes in Catalonia, which represents the vast majority of transactions, has still not surpassed the 2007 peak, although it was ready.

Sales of newly built homes, with 21,871 transactions in 2025, are still well below the historical peaks of the housing bubble. This gap is mainly explained by the difference in supply: 17 years ago, a lot of new construction was taking place; today, there is a shortage of available land, and the sector is much smaller—it has gone from representing 10% of GDP to around 5%.

Why is the market so out of control?

The fact is that the housing market in Catalonia has been experiencing a very dynamic pace for several years. The number of transactions has grown almost continuously since 2013, when the real estate crisis—caused by a debt bubble that devastated the economy when it burst—began to subside. With the arrival of the pandemic, the market came to a sudden halt in 2020, but it quickly rebounded, and by 2022 it had become the best year since 2007. The following year the pace slowed, registering fewer transactions because it was coming off a record year, but in the last two years the upward trend has been noticeable.

According to Òscar Gorgues, manager of the Barcelona Chamber of Urban Property, these figures are explained by the current market situation, especially in the Barcelona area, where he asserts that "there is a strong shift from rental demand to sales demand." Since regulated rent remains expensive, this expert says, it's still an expense, while buying is an investment. "And there's insecurity when it comes to renting, because when your contract ends, you're back to square one. This leads people to buy if they have the financial means, savings, or family support. This causes a shift in demand towards buying," concludes Gorgues, who also highlights the impact of regulatory measures like the cap on investment in the rental market by traditional landlords.