The latest report from the Housing Observatory Chair of the Universitat Politècnica, corresponding to the first quarter of 2023, qualifies the current state of the new housing market in Valencia as "limit situation". The study estimates the increase registered by 50% the prices of newly built houses in just three years, those that have elapsed since the start of the pandemic. The rise is more than 1,000 euros per square meter: from 1,890 in 2019 to the current 2,986 euros.
"We can confirm that the prices of new-build housing in Valencia and the metropolitan area continue to be stressed, dragging with it second-hand and rental, already conditioned by its very low supply in the face of the pressure of enormous demand," he says. Fernando Cos-Gayón, director of the Chair.
Cos-Gayón is emphatic: “We must act, and do it now, we have time to remedy this housing emergency. In a coordinated manner, the different Administrations have to undertake policies that make a sustainable housing stock possible”.
Among the most significant data from the study, it stands out that the average income necessary to buy a new home in Valencia stands at 43,500 euros, considering allocating a maximum of 30% of income to it, a percentage recommended by experts so as not to seriously risk the family economy.
According to the authors of the study, the data demonstrates the need to "facilitate the constitutional right of access to decent housing for the less privileged, because let us remember that in all districts of the city the rental fee exceeds that of the mortgage, for which the effort ratio for rent is even higher."
The authors of the report insist that the solution to this serious problem requires "real public-private collaboration", similar to what is carried out "in many success stories in countries in our geographical and cultural environment". They believe it is urgent to also address the updating of administrative processes that take advantage of technology to reduce license management times of all kinds.
For the Chair, one of the most important issues is the financing aid for the first access to housing. And they propose to establish a line of guarantees backed by the Administration that allows paying the down payment, that 20 to 30% of the price that is not financed with the mortgage loan.
It also insists on the need to implement a comprehensive subsidized housing plan, with a medium and long-term vision. In a recent special report on subsidized housing, the Chair carried out a study of the available land and a projection with various scenarios, depending on whether they were built to a greater or lesser extent on the available lots in the city. And one of the conclusions obtained was that the construction of this type of housing would reduce the average price in Valencia by more than 30%.
If housing is up more than 50% from the first quarter of just three years ago, you see a median unit price increase of 17% from the data in the report from the same period last year. Compared to the last registered quarter, the increase is 1%. The increase moderates, but the price continues to rise.
In the metropolitan area it is observed that the average price with respect to the first quarter of 2022 also increases: In L'Horta Nord it has risen by 27%, in L'Horta Oest by 11%, and in L'Horta Sud it has increased up to 20%
If we talk about the number of developments, a decrease of 4% is observed compared to the report for the fourth quarter of 2022. In the data collection carried out in the city of Valencia during the first quarter of 2023, 9 developments were registered that have gone public. sale through different platforms.
