Business · Economy · 14 hrs ago
Study links immigration and housing shortages to Spain's rising home prices
A study says immigration has added to housing demand in Spain, where home prices and rents have risen as construction has lagged.
It estimates immigration accounted for 60% of the real rise in purchase prices and 41% of rent increases from 2018 to 2025, while noting the figures depend on the model's assumptions.
More than 1.2 million households formed from 2021 to 2025, but just over 466,000 homes were completed.
The study estimates this left a shortfall of about 756,400 homes over those four years.
It says demand grew faster than supply, and that immigration alone would not have caused a crisis if enough homes had been built.
Spain's housing affordability index fell to 92.3 points, with 2021 set at 100, while Germany's rose to 123.
The study says holiday rentals and large landlords can affect particular neighbourhoods, but are hard to identify as the main cause of nationwide price rises.
A study says immigration explains 60% of the inflation-adjusted rise in Spanish home sale prices and 41% of the rise in rents from 2018 to 2025.
It links rising prices to a mismatch between growing housing demand and limited construction.
More than 1.2 million households formed in Spain from 2021 to 2025, while just over 466,000 completed homes were delivered.
The resulting housing shortfall was estimated at 756,400 homes over those four years.
The study was published by the Ruth Richardson Centre at the University of the Hesperides.
- Who
- Researchers at the Ruth Richardson Centre at the University of the Hesperides.
- What
- A study links immigration and a shortage of new homes to rising home sale prices and rents in Spain.
- When
- The study examines price changes from 2018 to 2025 and housing supply and household formation from 2021 to 2025. It was published on 9 November 2026.
- Where
- Spain.
- Why
- The study says population growth driven mainly by immigration increased housing demand while construction did not provide enough new homes.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
The study estimates immigration’s contribution to the inflation-adjusted rise in home sale prices and rents over this period.
Spain received more than five million immigrants, while more than 1.2 million households formed and just over 466,000 homes were completed.
El Mundo published its report on the study.
- Home sale prices
- Immigration explains 60% of the inflation-adjusted increase from 2018 to 2025, according to the study.
- Rents
- Immigration explains 41% of the inflation-adjusted increase from 2018 to 2025, according to the study.
- Housing shortfall
- 756,400 homes from 2021 to 2025.
- New homes delivered
- Just over 466,000 from 2021 to 2025.
- Homes built annually
- Around 90,000.
What people are saying
Strong population growth, driven mainly by immigration, appears as the main explanatory factor behind the increase in residential demand
This increase in demand due to immigration would not necessarily have triggered a housing crisis if it had been accompanied by a sufficient expansion of supply
more than 600,000 homes were completed each year in Spain
it is difficult to attribute a leading role to them in the generalized rise