The housing affordability crisis in Europe is not uniform, but it is widespread. That is the main conclusion of a study conducted by the Vienna University of Technology for the Journal of Maps, which analyses how many square metres a person can afford if they allocate 33% of their income to mortgage or rental payments.
Follow idealista/news in Spanish on the WhatsApp channel
The findings at a continental level are striking: 44% of Europeans live in towns or cities where they can only afford homes smaller than 50 m2, taking into account local income levels and housing prices.
If the threshold is increased to 75 m2, only 28% of the European population can afford a home of that size, highlighting the growing difficulty of accessing family-sized housing, particularly for households with children or dependants.
The rental market shows a similar pattern: 39% of Europeans live in towns or cities where allocating one-third of the average income is not enough to rent a home larger than 50 m2. In this case, the pressure is felt most acutely in cities, where more than 65% of residents in this category live.
Geographically, capital cities and major urban centres consistently fall into the least affordable category. In most of these locations, average incomes are insufficient to afford homes larger than 50 m2.
Moreover, the phenomenon does not affect only city centres but also surrounding villages and towns, creating the real estate dynamic often referred to as the "oil stain" effect.
Spain: the coast and the capital at the heart of the problem
Spain appears in the study as one of the countries with the greatest regional differences in housing affordability, yet with particularly pronounced pockets of unaffordability in its highest-demand areas, notably along the Mediterranean coast and in the capital.
Madrid emerges as one of the least affordable places to live, with the characteristic "spillover" effect extending into the surrounding metropolitan area, as seen in cities such as Paris and Berlin.
The coastal regions of Spain also face significant affordability challenges, particularly along the Mediterranean coastline, the islands and parts of Asturias.
In the rental market, Spain displays a clear structural divide. Large cities such as Madrid, Barcelona and other provincial capitals with strained housing markets concentrate much of the pressure on prices, while many rural inland areas experience a more balanced relationship between supply and demand.
The European map of residential unaffordability
Portugal, the other major Iberian market analysed, emerges as one of the most consistently unaffordable countries in Europe for both home ownership and renting, with Lisbon standing out as one of the most extreme examples on the continent.
Poland stands out as the least affordable country in Europe. Property prices have increasingly converged with broader European levels, while wages remain significantly lower, creating a price-to-income gap that the report describes as discouraging for prospective buyers.
Hungary faces a similar situation, with Budapest ranking among Europe's least affordable housing markets. Meanwhile, the Netherlands and Switzerland also feature among the continent's most challenging markets in terms of affordability.
At the opposite end of the spectrum are the Scandinavian countries, which emerge as the most affordable regions thanks to higher income levels and relatively low international demand.
Italy and France present a pattern similar to Spain's. Coastal areas and major cities have become increasingly expensive, while inland regions generally offer significantly better affordability.
