r/dataisbeautiful • u/HousingSpanish • 4d ago
OC Housing stock year-on-year balance, Spain, 1900 to 2025 [OC]
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u/ASuarezMascareno 4d ago
With the data from this figure, there should be a huge surplus of available housing from the period between 1958 and 2018. The deficit from the last 4 years is not nearly enough to account for all that was previously built.
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u/ale_93113 3d ago
However this is not the case
The main reason why is because Spain has over the last 25 years moved from the traditional multigenerational family structure to the modern structure
Suddenly 16 people go from needing 2 homes to needing 8
We are in a huge housing shortage, and while it seems we are starting to built it's not yet nearly enough
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u/ASuarezMascareno 3d ago
We Will not solve the shortage (short to mid term) by building more. The spanish construction industry doesn't have the capacity to build enough houses at the prices the majority of the population can afford.
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u/nfjsjfjwjdjjsj4 1d ago
We still have millions of houses to spare, but we cant afford them. You cant get a mortgage for a low amount so even one of those completely rotten homes in the españa vaciada requires saving up 30k + money for fixes, upfront, while paying rent.
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u/HousingSpanish 4d ago edited 4d ago
You are right, but a few considerations I can think of that might be considered when reading the chart:
- From the 1940s to the 1960s, there was a massive rural exodus. In fact, many houses are available, as you said, but they are in rural areas where nobody wants to live. Alternatively, they are just secondary homes for those living in the cities who inherited them and use them for only one or two weeks a year.
- Most of the houses from the 1950s, 60s, and 70s are over 55 years old and in a very bad state. We are mostly talking about flats (communist-era-like architecture), not single-family houses. Nearly 70% of people in Spain live in flats, the most of Europe. Rehabilitating these blocks requires agreement and money, which sometimes doesn't work out.
- Some buildings from the 50s to the 70s have had aluminosis issues, and have had to be demolished.
- Houses built in the past (80s, 90s...) usually already have owners, since builders need cash flow to keep their businesses alive. Therefore, they are typically sold within a few years. The owner might leave the house empty because in Spain, houses are the main form of savings. People rarely have stocks, gold, or other forms of savings; it is almost universally houses and land. So, the owner might just want it as a savings vehicle.
- Spain is the most visited country on the planet after France, and a number of houses (can't give a number here) are owned by foreigners who come for the good weather season. These foreigners are not included in the chart, but their houses are.
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u/ASuarezMascareno 3d ago
Most of the houses from the 1950s, 60s, and 70s are over 55 years old and in a very bad state. We are mostly talking about flats (communist-era-like architecture), not single-family houses. Nearly 70% of people in Spain live in flats, the most of Europe. Rehabilitating these blocks requires agreement and money, which sometimes doesn't work out.
I live in Spain, and have mostly lived in flats, and never lived in a house newer than 1975 (current is from 1970). People are renting houses from the 60s and 70s without having them ever rehabilitated, and without having any consideration about it (they are typically not for sale though). My current flat has 1970 wooden windows, 1970 kitchen, 1970 floors, etc.
From the 1940s to the 1960s, there was a massive rural exodus. In fact, many houses are available, as you said, but they are in rural areas where nobody wants to live. Alternatively, they are just secondary homes for those living in the cities who inherited them and use them for only one or two weeks a year.
That's true in some regions, but not in others. The Balears and the Canaries in fact have 12-30% of empty homes in their cities. Big cities in the mainland don't have a big fraction, but actually have north of half a million empty homes.
Spain is the most visited country on the planet after France, and a number of houses (can't give a number here) are owned by foreigners who come for the good weather season. These foreigners are not included in the chart, but their houses are.
This is indeed a huge problem in Spain and, given the current situation, likely requires restricting non-residents from owning houses.
Houses built in the past (80s, 90s...) usually already have owners, since builders need cash flow to keep their businesses alive. Therefore, they are typically sold within a few years. The owner might leave the house empty because in Spain, houses are the main form of savings. People rarely have stocks, gold, or other forms of savings; it is almost universally houses and land. So, the owner might just want it as a savings vehicle.
Something else that should be restricted given the current situation. These homes should go back in the market as soon as possible.
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u/Danph85 4d ago
How does Spain categorise holiday homes? Are they included in the housing growth stat? Because if so then that would throw the figures off by quite a lot.
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u/ASuarezMascareno 4d ago
Most current holiday homes were not built as holiday homes but as regular residential homes.
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u/professor_fate_1 4d ago
- lots of vacation homes and investment homes - included lots bought by russians from 2010 to 2020 because Spain offered a residence permit
- lots of abandoned property (incl. built by investors) - famous example is Valdeluz, built around 2008 for 30.000 residents but even now still at about 4.000 https://www.abandonedspaces.com/uncategorized/spain.html
- not sure how old homes that are sold/abandoned treated in the statistics - lots of that happened in past 50 years with whole villages being abandoned
- lower fertility and less children in population means smaller families, higher proportion of 1-2 person households vs. old fashioned 3-generation households
Even then, excessive real estate is obvious and real estate prices in smaller towns are still nowhere near 2008 levels.
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u/A11U45 4d ago
Why'd it start growing in the 50s and stop in the 2010s and 20s?
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u/HousingSpanish 3d ago
The 1950s was the moment when Spain began to participate in a more open economy with its neighbors and the wider world. Prior to that, it was highly autarchic and avoided international relationships and affairs.
The 2010s is when the Great Financial Crisis imploded. In Spain, its effects were huge due to a massive bubble in the construction sector, destroying a large chunk of the construction industry. Politically, this led to the establishment of multiple measures to avoid the creation of new bubbles in the future, which has, to a certain degree, hurt the industry's recovery.
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u/HousingSpanish 4d ago edited 4d ago
Data sources:
- Housing stock, from 1900 to 1970, see the approach to estimate the historical data here
- Housing stock, from 1971 to 2000, according to Atlas Digital de las Áreas Urbanas (Parque de Viviendas > Viviendas según tipo > Viviendas familiares > Select from available years 1970, 1981, 1991, 2001, 2011 > Tabla and Sintesis): Link. Based on the data from 1970, 1981 and 1991, the remaining years gaps have been estimated, in a similar way as done by Banco de España (Observatorio de Vivienda y Suelo > Boletines periódicos > Boletín Anual 2021 > Tabla 8.1): Link
- Housing stock, from 2001 onwards (Total de viviendas por comunidades autónomas y provincias): Link
- Population according to INE: Population consolidated
The chart denotes that Spain population is growing significantly faster that the housing stock, the current housing deficit is the biggest of the last 125 years, which could explain the harsh situation for housing accessibility and rising prices in the country.
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u/MovingTarget- 4d ago
I'm impressed by how long property growth outpaced population growth tbh. May be recovering from a bit of a glut. Wonder how homes / population compares with other western nations.