The Spanish housing market emits signals that lend themselves to curious reading. In full price escalationwith the residential square meter (m2) fooling around with values Prior to the real estate bubble, more and more people chose to buy a house alone. Without sharing the burden of the mortgage with a partner. There are three indicators that point in that direction.
The first is the clear increase in single-person households in Spain, which are on their way to representing 33% of the total. The second, the increasing weight of singles in the real estate market. And third, the ever increasing number of buyers who sign their mortgages alone. All this while increases the single population of the country, which is already around 15 million people.
More singles in agencies? Exact. It reflects it clearly the latest study from Fotocasa Research on the Spanish real estate market: if in 2023 singles represented 25% of applicants looking to buy a home, in 2024 the percentage had risen to 31%. Now it is around 32%.
Curiously, the trend has been much more hesitant in the rental market. According to FotocasaAfter the pandemic, the proportion of tenants living alone shot up several points, from 15% in 2021 to 18% in 2023. Since then, this increase has slowed and reversed, falling again to 16%.
Is there more data? Yes. Recently The Country public the detailed results of the Fotocasa study, in which the trend is seen more clearly. Their graphs reflect that in 2018 only 23% of the “buyers and demanders” of home ownership were single. Today that percentage is around 38%.
The percentage is slightly higher than the 32% in the original Fotocasa Research study because it includes both those who have already formalized the purchase of a home and those who are considering doing so. In your analysis, The Country It also speaks interchangeably of the ‘single’ population and people who ‘live alone’.
If we focus on married people and de facto or cohabiting couples, the trend is opposite: in 2018 they represented 70% of the demand for home ownership. Today that shadow has been reduced to around 51%.
What about mortgages? It is another key indicator that something is changing in the Spanish real estate market. Although it may attract attention in view of the rising cost of housing, more and more people choose to sign their loans on their own, without the help of a partner with whom to share expenses.
It reflects it clearly the firm iAhorro, which has confirmed how the percentage of people who take out mortgages alone has increased 7.5 percentage points in a matter of a few years. From representing 37.5% in 2022, they have risen to just over 45%. The percentages are based on the data recorded by iAhorro itself, so they must be handled with caution, but they are still revealing.
Do more people live alone? Yes. It’s not exactly a noveltybut still the data is eloquent. The INE calculates that at the beginning of last year there were 5.4 million households in Spain made up of a single person. If current trends do not change, in 2039 there will be more than 7.7 million, which means that the single-person household is the type of household that will register the greatest growth in the next decade and a half, both in absolute and relative values. In fact, by the end of the 2030s it would already represent a third of all households in the country.
“We are witnessing a profound transformation of the social model. In a decade, the number of people living alone has doubled,” recognizes María Matosspokesperson for Fotocasa. “This change has a direct reflection on the housing market, since it multiplies the demand for smaller apartments and increases pressure on supply.” The phenomenon coincides with a evident increase of the single population in the country, which has gone from 14 million at the beginning of 2021 to 14.9 at the end of 20236.5% more. During the same period the number of married people has barely fluctuated, going from 20 million to 20.12, 0.5% more.
Is it just housing? No. The real estate market is a reflection of society. More people buy homes alone because life approaches have changed over the decades. “It is nothing new that there are more and more people living their lives alone. It has been happening for the last 20 or 30 years, which is why many have now left their fears behind and have embarked on this adventure,” explains to The Country Antonio Cano, professor of Psychology.
The increase in purchases among singles also coincides with two other relevant trends: a reduction in price of new mortgages that are already tending to stabilize and the attractiveness of housing for investors in the midst of rising prices, which is motivating even express purchases via Telegram.
Who buys? In view of the previous data, the question is obvious: Who buys a home alone right now in Spain? Who chooses to sign a mortgage alone? “We are talking about people with high purchasing power, young people and with a clear preference for quick, simple and 100% online processes,” explains the general director of Trioteca, a mortgage comparator, who recalls that this independence allows them to sign mortgages with much greater agility.
The photo is similar to the one provided by iAhorro. According to your recordssingles who are applying for mortgages right now in Spain are on average 38.2 years old, have a permanent contract, have more than seven years of seniority in their companies and have a monthly net salary that slightly exceeds 3,000 euros. They also come to the market with a solid cushion of more than 80,000 euros. The vast majority focuses their attention on second-hand homes with an average price of 234,000 euros.
Images | Ansar Naib (Unsplash) and INE
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