June 16, 2023

Significantly more people want to buy than sell a property

In times of inflation and interest rate increases, it is easy for property buyers to believe that more people need to sell and that housing prices will therefore fall. However, this is not the case on the Costa del Sol, where the market has remained very stable and continued to rise, both during the pandemic years and also in the last year with the problems that have arisen in the rest of Europe as a result of the war in Ukraine. In Spain, there is positive growth, the Spaniards are relatively low in debt and the number of working people in Spain is the highest in 15 years.

For us estate agents on the Costa del Sol, recent years have been characterised by a strong feeling that demand for housing is greater than supply. There are buyers, but it is difficult to find suitable properties. Here we have not only the national buyers but also a large number of international speculators who perceive Spain as a safe country to invest in and not least a country where a second home can increase the family's quality of life enormously.

Now, new statistics from housing portal Fotocasa clearly show the imbalance between supply and demand in the housing market. While 78% of Spaniards want to buy, only 16% want to sell. Six per cent of Spaniards are on both sides of the market, meaning they are trying to sell in order to buy another property. The imbalance is greater than ever before and even exceeds that recorded in 2022. 

Fotocasa's report 'Radiography of the housing market in 2023' shows that 14% of the Spanish population aged 18 and over have bought or tried to buy a home so far this year. On the other side of the market, only 4% of Spaniards have sold or tried to sell a home, a percentage that is at minimum levels. 

If we break down purchase intention data, the result is that 21 per cent have a clear plan to buy a property in the next five years. Of those, 7% plan to do so in the next two years and 14% within two to five years.

Thinking of selling? Contact us and we will explain the whole process to you.

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