Since 2021, 1.2 million homes have been created in Spain, while only 474,000 homes have been completed, resulting in a deficit of 740,000 homes that extends across almost all provinces. These are some of the conclusions of thel Real Estate Market Report 2026 recently published by OBS Business School. Furthermore, the study emphasises that the housing supply is not concentrated where it is most needed, but in areas where demand is lower, which contributes to rising prices and makes access to housing difficult, especially for young people and middle-income families.
The deficit cannot be corrected before eight years, the report indicates, for which a promotion rate of over 230,000 homes per year will be necessary from now on, 128% higher than that recorded in 2024, which was the peak of the last decade.
However, the situation is limited by four factors: the scarcity of finalised land, that is, urban land ready for construction; financing difficulties for urbanisation and development; lack of skilled labour and rising construction costs, and finally strict sustainability regulations, which slow down housing promotion.
The State Housing Plan 2026-2030, endowed with 7 billion euros, is also insufficient and a "tiny patch" to resolve the significant structural imbalance. In fact, it puts us back at the bottom of the European Union.
However, real estate investment, which has increased by 93% in the first quarter of 2026, places the country as the most attractive in Europe for the first time. The problem is that construction is stagnant at historically low levels (barely 2.7 homes started for every 1,000 inhabitants compared to nearly 20 before the crisis) because it is not profitable.
The report considers that only a coordinated effort between administrations and the private sector to increase construction and facilitate available land will make correction possible.