2023-12-13 11:22:17
The real estate market is in clear imbalance. And that is one, although not the only one, of the reasons that explain why neither the purchase and sale prices of housing nor the rental prices go down. The supply does not cover the demand by much. In fact, it is five times lower than it should be. In the second half of 2023, 77% of those who participate in it want to buy and on the other hand there are only 17% of housing providers to buy. In the center, 7% are currently selling to buy, according to the report “X-ray of the real estate market in the second half of 2023” by Fotocasa.
In the rental market, this imbalance is even greater since compared to the 80% of people active in the market looking to rent, there are only 16% of owners who have a home available for rent. And only 4% offer a home for rent because they are looking for another home to rent, according to the “Rental experience in 2023” from the same real estate portal.
“The mismatch between supply and demand is responsible for pushing up prices and creating inaccessibility to housing. In the sale and purchase, the underproduction of housing due to the difficulties of developers not only in obtaining financing or developing the promotion, but also due to the lack of land, the slowness of bureaucracy, the increase in construction costs, and the lack of labor make it very difficult to expand the offer in Spain,” comments María Matos, Director of Studies and spokesperson for Fotocasa. On the rental side, the available supply “is at a minimum and is increasingly contracting due to the disincentives of owners to keep these homes rented,” she adds.
Evolution
In the second half of the year, the demand for housing both for sale and for rent involves 26% of Spaniards over 18 years of age. A percentage very close to that of twelve months ago (27% in 2022), although significantly higher than the figure reflected in the first half of the year, when it remained at 23%.
A relevant detail at this point for Fotocasa is the reopening of the gap between purchase demand and rental demand, so that, if twelve months before the rental demand was 16% and the purchase demand was 15%, in the second half of 2023 the values have reversed again, standing at 13% and 16%, respectively. That is to say, purchase demand is once again ahead, with an advantage of three percentage points over rental demand.
Prices leave no room for maneuver for those who rent but want to buy
In the case of rentals, the pressure on prices is leaving “no room for maneuver” for those who rent but aspire to be owners, as explained by Ferran Font, head of Estudios depósitos.com. According to the latest data from this portal, the average rental price in Spain closed November with an increase of 0.91% compared to the previous month, which represents an increase of 6.94% in the interannual rate, up to 11.10 euros. per square meter.
Where the slowdown is coming, although with nuances, is operations. Home sales reached 44,454 transactions in October, a figure 11.4% lower than that of the same month in 2022, while home mortgages fell to a greater extent, 22.4% year-on-year, according to provisional data from the “Real Estate Registry Statistics” prepared by the College of Registrars. Despite these being large setbacks in both cases, it is also true that the comparison is made with respect to a year that was extraordinary, such as 2022. In the case of mortgages, there has also been a significant increase in purchases and sales of cash housing in recent months.
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