Date: 08-07-2025

The recent drop in the Euribor is helping boost mortgage approvals among those who can still access the housing market. However, the data confirms that buying a home is becoming increasingly difficult. Experts point out that the proportion of individuals actively looking to buy property in 2025 has shrunk over the last two years. And among those who have managed to buy in the past 12 months, more are taking on bigger bank loans than in 2024.

According to the 2025 Profile of the Spanish Mortgage Borrower report by Fotocasa Research, only 13% of people are currently active in the home buying market—down 1% from 2024. Meanwhile, the proportion of actual buyers remains at 3%, but more of them are using mortgages: in 2024, 66% of buyers used a mortgage, but in the past year, that figure has risen to 69%. Of those, 55% relied solely on a mortgage (1% more than in 2024), while 14% also needed financial help from family—up 2% on the previous year. In other words, while more buyers are managing with just a mortgage, the number needing extra support is rising even faster.

There’s also a drop in the number of buyers managing without a mortgage: from 35% in 2024 to 31% in 2025. Of that 31%, 16% bought using their own savings (down from 17%), 8% received family support (down from 10%), and 7% sold a previous home to fund the purchase (unchanged).

Falling interest rates are clearly having an effect. The report highlights that the decline in buyers who didn’t use a mortgage is directly linked to the drop in interest rates and the Euribor. “The rise in mortgage uptake doesn’t necessarily mean people have fewer savings,” it explains, “but rather that with the Euribor now much lower than a year or two ago, taking out a loan has become far more attractive.”

Another striking figure is the increase in buyers borrowing more than 75% of the property value through their mortgage: from 39% in February 2024 to 45% in 2025. In terms of duration, most loans are now between 25 and 30 years (40% of the total—up 5 points). But the number of very long-term loans is also rising: those taken out over 30–35 years remain steady at 13%, while those over 35–40 years have increased from 3% to 4%, and loans over 40 years have gone from 0% to 2%.

Saving for the Deposit Is Still the Biggest Barrier

The biggest obstacle to buying a home remains the initial deposit (typically 20% of the property’s value, although some banks finance up to 100%) plus legal and tax costs, which vary by region. According to the report, 57% of mortgage borrowers needed help to cover these upfront costs—up 2 points on 2024 and 5 on 2023. Of these, 43% managed with just a bank loan, but 15% needed financial support from family as well.

Among those who didn’t need a bank loan to pay these initial costs (43%), most had enough savings (29%, down from 30% in 2024), while 10% relied on family help, and 4% funded the costs by selling a previous home.

Even though cheaper mortgages may explain part of the surge in borrowing, the trend in buyers’ ability to cover upfront costs out of pocket remains negative. In 2023, 49% of buyers didn’t need any financing to pay these costs. That dropped to 45% in 2024, and further to 43% by February 2025. Still, that’s significantly higher than the 38% recorded in 2022.

Source: El Economista

Writer: María Medinilla