Young people, the great real estate challenge
Access to housing is one of the main concerns of young people in Spain
Housing is one of the great problems for young Spaniards today. Only 31% of those under 34 years of age own a property, according to data from the Vía Célere Observatory. And the forecasts are very alarmist: the figure continues to fall and will continue to do so because, according to statistics, to access a home that they own, many young people would have to dedicate more than 60% of their monthly income to pay the mortgage loan.
What is the result of all this? The increase in the average age of emancipation, which has risen to 29 years, according to the Youth Council of Spain. Worst of all, is that this social problem also leads to anxiety and depression disorders in young people.
A problem that has been aggravated by covid-19
According to psychologists, the lack of economic stability caused by Covid-19 is the main cause of the delay in emancipation, since most young people are in a vulnerable situation. In addition, with the onset of the pandemic, sales of new construction fell significantly.
However, not all bad news. In the last 6 months, the sale of new construction homes has grown significantly. In fact, the sale of real estate registered its best semester since 2008, according to the National Institute of Statistics (INE).
Spanish youth vs youth from other European countries
This situation that our young people are suffering does not seem to be extrapolated to the rest of Europe, since the situation of the Spanish residential market is very far from the figures presented by other countries of the Union. Without going any further, in 2020 in Spain 56,000 new homes were sold compared to the more than 300,000 on average in other countries.
What seems to be the cause of this inequality? Everything indicates that the main reason is that young Spaniards have not had the opportunity to save to access housing, due to the crises experienced since 2008 or their costly integration into stable jobs. Let us remember that, currently, our unemployment rate among those under 24 years of age is 38%.
What does the future hold?
Looking to the future, we see a challenge mainly: construction. The exponential rise in rental housing prices has shown that there is a significant problem with supply and, in order to contain rents, Spain must be able to offer more supply, whether owned or rented.
