Spain’s central bank expects the housing shortage to worsen significantly. According to the deputy governor of the Banco de España, Soledad Núñez, the shortfall accumulated since 2021 currently stands at around 755,000 homes. If current trends continue, the deficit could grow by a further 300,000 or so units by 2028, taking it above one million. Núñez spoke on 23 September at the Forbes Economic Summit in Madrid.
The bank attributes the trend mainly to a structural imbalance between supply and demand. Real house prices have accelerated noticeably since 2024 and are back at levels seen around 2005, before the property bubble burst. At the same time, the financial burden of buying a home is rising faster than household incomes. Younger buyers and people moving to major cities are particularly affected.
The remarks build on earlier Banco de España analyses pointing to a persistent undersupply of new homes. According to these, the shortage is concentrated in major urban areas, while other regions have vacant properties. Experts cite faster planning procedures, greater use of existing land reserves, and incentives for new construction and renovation as possible remedies. Núñez described these as complex but necessary levers; she did not announce any specific policy decisions.
In the same appearance, Núñez discussed the role of new financial intermediaries. Neobanks and other providers were increasingly attracting savings; she said it should be examined whether these funds were flowing sufficiently into productive investment and housing construction. This was not a finding, but a call for policymakers and the sector to review how financing is channelled.
A look at longer-term trends highlights the tensions: while households’ real disposable incomes in Spain have grown by a factor of 1.8 since 1980, according to the bank, real house prices have risen by a factor of 3.5. In the eurozone the corresponding figures are around 1.6 and 1.8. Media outlets such as El País interpret this disparity as evidence of structural scarcity and regulatory barriers. Forecasts are naturally uncertain; the central bank is issuing a warning, not expressing certainty. The immediate context is the deputy governor’s public assessment in Madrid, which increases political pressure to act on housing in Spain.
Editor: Daniel Mayer (Article created with AI assistance).