The latest figures from the Living Conditions Survey by the Spanish Statistics Institute (INE) confirm the ongoing trend in homeownership in Spain. In 2025, 73.3% of Spanish households lived in their own homes. While this still represents nearly three out of every four households, it is the lowest share recorded since the survey began in 2004, down 0.3 percentage points from 2024. This marks the third consecutive annual decline, falling from 75.9% in 2022, a drop of more than 2.5 points over four years.
Contrary to expectations, the decline in home ownership has not translated into a rise in rental accommodation. In 2025, 20.2% of households rented, slightly down by 0.2 points compared with 2024. Of these, 16.7% rented at market prices, a decrease of 0.3 points, while 3.5% rented below market prices, up 0.1 points.
The most notable growth in 2025 has been in property transfers. The share of households transferring the right to use and enjoy their property, without transferring ownership, rose to 6.5%, up from 6.1% in 2024, marking the largest increase among housing arrangements.
Almost half of Spanish households own their homes outright
In 2025, almost half of Spanish households (48.9%) are expected to own their home outright, without a mortgage, while 24.4% will still be paying off a mortgage.
By region, four autonomous communities will see home ownership rates above 80%: Castile and León (81.2%), Cantabria (80.9%), La Rioja (80.7%) and Navarre (80.6%). In contrast, the lowest rates are in the Canary Islands (66.8%), the Balearic Islands and Catalonia (both 67.1%), Madrid (69.1%), and the autonomous cities of Ceuta (61.3%) and Melilla (63.4%).
Castile and León also leads in households that own their homes outright, with 58.4% having fully paid their mortgage, followed by Extremadura (56.3%), Asturias (56.2%), Galicia (55.8%) and La Rioja (55.6%). At the other end, Catalonia (40.9%), the Balearic Islands (42.1%) and Madrid (44%) have the lowest shares of outright homeowners.
Regions with the highest percentages of mortgaged homes are Andalusia (26.7%), the Basque Country and Cantabria (26.5% each), Catalonia (26.2%) and Navarre (26%). The lowest proportions, all under 20%, are found in Galicia (17.3%), the Canary Islands (19.3%) and Extremadura (19.9%).
Property transfers and rentals are increasingly becoming alternatives to homeownership
There are four autonomous communities where the share of rental housing exceeds the national average: Catalonia (28%), Madrid (26.9%), the Balearic Islands (24.7%) and the Canary Islands (23.6%), along with the autonomous cities of Ceuta (30.5%) and Melilla (31.3%).
In Catalonia, the majority of rental households (23.2%) pay market-rate rents, followed by Madrid (22.6%) and the Balearic Islands (21.3%). The Canary Islands have a lower share of market-rate rentals (16.9%) than the Valencian Community (17.4%) or Murcia (17.5%). However, the overall rental proportion rises due to a high share of below-market rents, which reach 6.7% in the Canary Islands – the highest in Spain – compared with 5% in the Basque Country, 4.8% in Catalonia, 4.3% in Madrid and 4.2% in Castile-La Mancha. Ceuta (11%) and Melilla (12.9%) also record significant below-market rental rates.
Property transfers are above the national average in Galicia (10%), the Canary Islands (9.7%), Castile-La Mancha (9.4%), the Balearic Islands (8.3%), Extremadura (8%), Andalusia (7.7%), and Asturias and Murcia (both 7%). In Catalonia, property transfers affect 4.9% of households, while in Madrid they account for just 4%, compared with 6.4% in the Valencian Community.
