Spain Property Ownership: Young People Buying – Statistics
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Spain’s Young Adults Struggle to Leave the Nest
Table of Contents
The rising Barriers to Homeownership
New property market figures have laid bare just how tough it has become for younger people in Spain to fly the nest and move into their own home.
According to data from the Federation of Real Estate Agencies (FAI),onyl a quarter of homes in Spain in 2024 were bought by young people moving out of the family home.
Spain is the fourth country in the EU where young people take the longest to leave home, still living with their parents well into adulthood.
The latest data available from Eurostat, the European stats body, shows that Spaniards leave home at 30.4 years old on average. Forty-five percent of young people up to the age of 31 still live with their parents, and among those who do manage to get a place of their own, nearly four in ten still need financial support with expenses.
READ ALSO: Nearly half of Spaniards under 31 live with their parents
Buyer Profiles and Market Trends
Property market data reflects the struggle. The FAI figures show almost half of buyers (48.8 percent) were homeowners changing their home, 25.8 percent were tenants taking the step to buy, and just 25.4 percent were buying their first home to fly the nest and move out of the family home.
Stats from the ‘Buyer Profile Study 2025’ also showed that the average age of house buyers in Spain is 41.8 years old.
This delayed independence that exists in the Spanish property market is a long-established trend but also hardly surprising in recent years as prices have soared.According to property website Fotocasa, property purchasing prices are rising 17 percent year-on-year. In the last five years alone, there has been a 40 percent increase in the cost of an average home here.
The inability of young adults to achieve homeownership has significant economic and social consequences. It delays family formation, reduces consumer spending, and can contribute to a sense of economic insecurity. Furthermore, it exacerbates existing inequalities, as those with family wealth are better positioned to enter the property market.
Regional Variations
The challenges are not uniform across Spain. Property prices and income levels vary significantly by region.For example, major cities like Madrid and Barcelona have significantly higher property prices than rural areas, making it even more difficult for young people to buy homes in these locations.
| Region | Average Property Price (2025) | Average Age of First- |
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