Homes Sold and Rented in Major Cities Are More Than Half a Century Old
The housing stock for sale in Spain has an average age of 45 years, while rental properties are slightly younger, with an average age of 44 years, according to a study published by Idealista.
Even so, age differences between provincial capitals are significant, both in the sales and rental markets. In the property sales market, Barcelona has the oldest housing stock currently available, with properties averaging 69 years old. It is followed by three northern cities: Pamplona (64 years), San Sebastián (60 years), and Bilbao (54 years). Next comes Madrid, where homes have an average age of 53 years.
By contrast, a total of 23 Spanish provincial capitals have housing stocks for sale with an average age in their thirties. The newest properties are found in Albacete, where homes average just 31 years old. In Lugo, the average age rises to 32 years, while in Almería, Murcia, Lleida, and Guadalajara, it reaches 33 years.
Regarding the rental market, Barcelona also has the oldest housing stock, with rental properties averaging 72 years old. It is followed by San Sebastián (68 years), Madrid (56 years), Tarragona (53 years), and Pamplona (52 years).
Only Ciudad Real has rental properties with an average age below 30 years (29 years). The next youngest cities are Albacete (30 years), Lugo, Soria, and Castellón (31 years in all three cases), followed by Almería and Guadalajara (both averaging 32 years).
According to Fernando Encinar, Head of Research at Idealista, “the data show that although millions of homes were built during the housing boom, Spain’s housing stock has not been sufficiently renewed. Living in a building that is more than five decades old is not necessarily a negative thing, but it undoubtedly entails higher costs for renovations, community assessments, and poor energy efficiency.
The fact that Spain’s two largest cities are among those with the oldest housing stock highlights that the pace of new construction in recent decades has not matched that of the rest of the country. We should seriously consider the need to increase construction activity in both cities in the coming years. While the excesses of the housing bubble are evident in much of Spain, they should not serve as an excuse to ignore the urgent need for these two major urban centers to provide more housing—whether newly built or properly renovated—in order to reduce pressure on prices.”
Methodology
For the preparation of this report, Mundo Inmobiliario analyzed all properties listed on the portal and cross-referenced them with the construction year indicated in each property’s cadastral reference.
