The Average Sale Price of a House Is 69% Above the Average Buyer’s Budget

A 2018 housing-market study by Century 21 Spain found a substantial gap between what prospective buyers planned to spend and the prices of homes being offered. The average purchasing budget was approximately €166,000, compared with an average asking price of €241,145.

The cited figures mean the typical budget covered about 69% of the average asking price, leaving a gap of roughly €75,000.

What buyers were looking for

The study described the preferred home as an owner-occupied apartment in the peripheral area of a city center. Buyers generally favored second-hand properties that did not require renovation.

• 45% preferred a location near the city center’s peripheral area.
• 78.1% wanted an apartment in a residential building.
• 54% preferred a second-hand home requiring no refurbishment.
• 53.9% sought between 76 and 120 square meters.
• 48.9% wanted three bedrooms.
• 52.6% wanted two bathrooms.

The expected monthly rental budget was €559.

Purchase budgets and mortgages

The largest mismatch appeared in homes priced between €75,000 and €200,000, where demand exceeded supply. Above €200,000, the study reported more supply than demand.

Half of prospective buyers expected to combine a cash payment with a mortgage, while 25% planned to finance the full purchase price. Buyers generally wanted mortgage payments to remain below €500 per month. For one-quarter of buyers, that amount would still consume more than 30% of household income.

Rental affordability

For 44% of renters, monthly housing costs represented more than 30% of family income. Homes renting for no more than €500 per month accounted for 41% of supply but 52% of demand.

In the €501–€600 range, supply slightly exceeded demand, at 20% versus 18%. At more than €1,200 per month, supply was five percentage points higher than demand.

Location and property type

Three out of four home seekers wanted to remain in their current city. Among them, 45% preferred peripheral areas around the center, compared with 38% of available homes. Only 16% wanted an outlying location, although such properties represented 21% of supply.

Apartments accounted for 72% of available properties, while demand reached 78%. Detached single-family homes represented 28% of supply but 22% of demand.

Second-hand homes requiring no renovation made up 76% of supply, compared with 54% of demand. Conversely, 25% of participants wanted an unoccupied new-build home, while only 8% of supply matched that description.

Shortage of medium-sized homes

The shortage was most pronounced for homes measuring between 91 and 120 square meters: these represented 26% of demand but only 18% of supply.

Three-bedroom homes also showed a sizable mismatch, accounting for 49% of demand and 36% of supply. Larger homes represented 31% of supply but only 19% of demand.

Neighborhood and building characteristics also influenced decisions:

• 90% wanted to live in a safe area.
• 87.5% considered good transport connections important.
• 84% valued proximity to supermarkets and shops.
• 75.7% considered resident parking important.
• About seven in ten valued the home’s orientation and the quality of its building materials.

Buyer and seller profiles

Women represented six out of ten buyers and sellers in the study. Among buyers, 72.8% were between 18 and 39 years old. Among sellers, 51.4% were over 40.

Married people and couples were the most active groups, representing 60.3% of buyers and 57.2% of sellers. Two-person households accounted for the largest share of buyers at 38.4%, while four-person households were the largest group of sellers at 35.3%. Neither profile had an average monthly income above €2,500.