Spain experiences new real estate 'bubble' with 360,000 homes sold in just six months

Neither the skyrocketing prices nor the obvious shortage of supply can stop the real estate boom Spain has experienced in the first six months of 2025. Home sales and purchases have reached "bubble" figures, with 357,533 homes sold from January to June - the highest figure since 2007 when, in the same period, more than 491,000 homes were sold, according to the country's national institute of statistics (INE).

At that time, the country was on the verge of the bubble bursting, although the situation is completely different now thanks to the improved financial situation of households. Moreover, the market has completely left behind those years of excessive construction that were largely to blame for the crisis. Now, the opposite is true: the lack of new construction has led to second-hand housing dominating the market. In the first half of the year, 77% of the houses sold came from this category.

In total, sales and purchases grew by 19.7% between January and June compared to the same period in 2024. In June, which is usually somewhat weaker due to the start of the summer season, there were more than 59,000 transactions, which is 17.8% more than in June 2024.

"These figures indicate that this is the best month of June in the last 18 years. If we analyse what has happened in a calendar year, we see how the figures continue to rise and are already close to 700,000 homes sold," said Ferrán Font, director of studies at Pisos.com.

"Despite a convulsive geopolitical context, this year will be very close to the historical records of 2007, thanks to economic factors such as a low unemployment rate, stable purchase prices in big part of the country and fairly favourable conditions of access to credit," said Miguel Ángel Gómez Hueca, president of the Federación de Asociaciones de Empresas Inmobiliarias (Fadei). "As soon as a flat goes on sale, it sells, and this is due to the lack of stock and the demand that is still very active," he added.

In the first half of 2025 alone, more homes were sold than in the whole of 2015, which, according to Idealista spokesperson Beñat del Coso, "highlights the strength of demand and puts into context the very strong price rises experienced by the market, especially in an environment where supply remains scarce".

"We are in a moment of optimism and buyer confidence in the market, driven by the easing of interest rates," added María Matos from real estate portal Fotocasa, pointing to key factors such as higher household savings rates, now combined with improved mortgage conditions following recent interest rate cuts by the European Central Bank (ECB).

Although many purchase and sale operations are paid on the nail, signing of mortgages has been picking up strongly in recent months. The latest data from the INE, from May, shows an increase of 54.42% compared to a year earlier, with 42,274 sealed loans. All this despite the sharp rise in prices which, among other things, has caused the amount of mortgages applied for to reach an average of 158,153 euros - the highest since the INE has been publishing these statistics.

"This increase in the amount financed, up to 11.61% in just one year (compared to 141,677 euros in May 2024) implies an increase in the price of the homes purchased. Combined with the uptick in the number of mortgage agreements, it reflects a greater willingness among households to take on debt, possibly due to expectations of stable or even falling interest rates in the medium term," said Simone Colombelli, director of mortgages at iAhorro.

The average price of new and used housing in Spain increased by 1.5% between June and July, bringing the increase over the last year to 11.5%, according to data from Tinsa.