The effort necessary to buy or rent a home in a Spanish capital increases. On average, a household needs 22% of annual income to pay the mortgage payment and 33% for rent, according to a study published this Tuesday by Idealista. They are 4 and 2 points more than last year.
For Francisco Iñareta, spokesperson for the real estate portal, “the reasons for the increase in effort in purchasing and renting are different. "The rise in financing costs is the main reason in the case of homes for sale, while the rise in prices caused by the constant reduction in supply explains the increase in rental effort."
With a lack of supply and a lot of demand, the rent already exceeds the maximum of 30% that should be allocated at most to cover housing expenses.
Thus, the rental market is more stressed. This is shown by the fact that in most cases buying requires less effort than renting, except in San Sebastián, Granada and Palma de Mallorca. The effort is calculated based on the average annual net income of households (with data from the INE) and how much of that money is allocated to the annual mortgage or rental payment, based on the prices managed by Idealista.
For two-bedroom rental prices, where the most income is required is in Barcelona, with 44%. Just behind are Palma de Mallorca (43%), Valencia (39%), Málaga (38%), Madrid (37%), Alicante (35%) or San Sebastián (33%). Las Palmas also exceeds 30% (33%) and is matched by Segovia and Bilbao (30%).
The highest rebound of the year occurs in Palma, with a growth of 10 points in effort. The strong demand and low availability on the island cause it to increase above Valencia (8 points) or the 6 points of Barcelona and Madrid.
On the opposite side of the list are Ciudad Real (16% of the income is required to cover the rent), Teruel (17%) or Palencia (18%). In Cáceres, Jaén and Zamora, less than 20% is also needed.
Looking ahead to the coming months, Idealista sees a tense market. "The outlook in the case of rentals is negative, not only in relation to price but if housing policies are maintained (or tightened as in the case of Catalonia) it will not be possible to reverse the process of loss of supply, which will increase the difficulties of families in accessing rental housing, with special impact on the most vulnerable profiles," explains Iñareta.
To calculate the purchase effort, the annual share of the household's net income that goes into the payment of a typical mortgage is taken as a reference. The worst placed in this case is Palma de Mallorca, where 46% of the income is needed to cover the payment of the purchase. In San Sebastián it is 39%, compared to 33% in Barcelona and Málaga or 31% in Madrid. Only in these five cases is the recommended barrier of 30% exceeded.
Other capitals such as Alicante and Granada (28%), Pamplona and Las Palmas (26%) and the group of València, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Cádiz and A Coruña (25%) are at risk of falling into this area. The trend is upward. "All markets require a greater effort than a year ago," he points out. Palma (10 more points), Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Málaga and Madrid (9 points) is where it grows the most.
To see the lowest effort rates you have to go to Jaén (11%), Teruel, Lleida (12%), Ciudad Real, Palencia (13%), Murcia and Huelva (14%).
The cheaper mortgages could change the trend somewhat. "It is possible that the announced rate reduction of the European Central Bank (ECB) in the third quarter of this year will manage to slightly lower the cost of financing, which would mean a reduction in effort if demand does not increase strongly and puts upward pressure prices".
A factor to take into account when comparing the effort made to pay a mortgage or a rent is that to obtain a purchase with a loan, greater capital is needed to access the first, both for the payment of the down payment and taxes. .
