Bank of Spain Warns 750,000-Home Gap Persists as Madrid Supply Capacity Falls to 9.9%
Updated
Updated · Euronews · Jun 18
Bank of Spain Warns 750,000-Home Gap Persists as Madrid Supply Capacity Falls to 9.9%
3 articles · Updated · Euronews · Jun 18
Summary
750,000 additional homes are needed in Spain to match newly formed households with available housing stock, the Bank of Spain said in its 2025 annual report.
52.5% gaps between homes built and new households are concentrated in Madrid, Barcelona, Alicante, Valencia, Murcia and Málaga, with the shortage most acute in their capitals, where up to 36% of families live.
9.9% of Madrid's housing stock could be brought onto the residential market versus a 27.1% national average, while about 400,000 homes are tied up in tourist or short-term rentals and non-resident buyers bought 7.4% of homes in 2021-2025.
1.1 million homes could theoretically be built across the six biggest urban areas but only about 320,000 are planned in their capitals, as bureaucracy, overlapping rules, labor shortages and weak productivity slow construction.
6.6% of Spain's existing housing stock is effectively missing relative to household growth, a larger shortfall than Portugal's 3.7% and Italy's 400,000-home gap, while Germany is the only major eurozone economy to have improved.
Spain's housing crisis requires quadrupling construction. Can systemic roadblocks be fixed before the market breaks?
With 850,000 homes empty or used for tourism, is the crisis about scarcity or poor allocation?
As Spain’s market cools and the Golden Visa ends, what does the future hold for foreign investors?
The 750,000-Home Gap: Inside Spain’s Deepening Housing Crisis and What Must Change
Overview
Spain faces a severe housing crisis, with a shortage of 750,000 homes driven by a growing gap between new households and homes built since 2021. The problem is most acute in major cities, where there is potential for 1.1 million new homes, but only 320,000 are actually planned, revealing a major bottleneck in development. Systemic issues like bureaucratic hurdles and slow construction processes prevent the market from meeting demand. This deepening deficit threatens economic stability and social cohesion, highlighting the urgent need for coordinated action to increase housing supply and affordability.