Reequilibrio inmobiliario

The Spanish real estate market appears to be seeking a new equilibrium in an overall context that does little to facilitate a balanced outcome. The latest figures from the National Institute of Statistics, released on Friday, reveal a slight uptick in purchase sales in June, the first in five months. Despite everything, the first half of the year shows slightly fewer than 347,000 completed transactions, a 2.6% decrease compared to the same period in 2025.

The figures are difficult to interpret as they contain often contradictory signals. A growth in June after a period of contrasting trends. An accumulated figure for January to June pointing towards a slowdown compared to last year, but which in historical terms remains exceptionally high. And a market, perhaps unsurprisingly, that remains overly reliant on freehold and second-hand housing.

Most analysts interpret the sector as having reached a point of inflexion. And that after the euphoria of the previous year we have entered a phase of correction. However, this gentle landing is based on principles that reflect some structural deficiencies: in short, prices have reached a point where many households can no longer afford them, and they resist a drop only because the massive housing access crisis keeps demand high, even at the expense of the financial sustainability of many families.

On the other hand, history shows that an economic correction that starts gently can still come as a shock. So it would be advisable to take advantage of these relatively placid times in the sector to address its root problems, before it is too late. And the INE figures, while relatively limited, give clues to these larger issues.

It is not normal for only one in five purchases in a market with a housing deficit of 750,000 homes (according to the latest estimate from the Bank of Spain) to be for newly built properties. And even less so for only one in ten transactions to be for protected housing in a society where housing has become the greatest vital problem for hundreds of thousands of families.

Therefore, there is an urgent need for more decisive action to increase housing production, as the sector's companies have been calling for for years. And also for homes to reach the market at a price that citizens can afford.