Rent in Valencia is already so expensive that the latest survey by the Association of Real Estate Agencies of the Valencian Community (ASICVAL) states that 13.9% of tenants choose to share housing and 12% resort to renting rooms. And yet the survey says the trend “has moderated,” because a year ago it represented 31.8%. These are those who still resist and look in the city, but there are many others who leave the municipality to find accommodation that meets their needs and not just their desires, since according to Valencian real estate agencies, price is also the main reason why 28.4% of tenants are forced to expand their search outside the main urban centers. They add that those who share housing without family ties are 33.4% of tenants, when a year ago they represented 19.3%, almost double.
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Those who share housing without family ties are 33.4% of tenants, but last year they were 19.3%
Fernando, we will omit his last name, is an example of the first type of tenants: 26 years old, stable job for five years, and aware that “with the current situation, it is impossible to pay to have your own home.” He shares an apartment in Valencia city with two other people he did not know until recently when his other roommates ended up moving out. To find them he did a casting, that selection process to which everyone looking for housing in recent years is almost obligatorily subjected.
“I posted it on Idealista, and I found that in 24 hours more than 80 people contacted me,” he recalls. He narrowed the range, as he was looking for people over 21 and under 40 years old, but even so the demand was sky-high. And it does not surprise him, among his coworkers his case is not an exception: out of 20 in his team, 8 share an apartment, because “if it’s not with inheritances or help from parents, for us it’s impossible. Who among us has more than 70,000 euros in the bank?” he wonders.
If it’s not with inheritances or help from parents, for us it’s impossible. Who among us has more than 70,000 euros in the bank?”
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The question remains pertinent considering that the latest report from the Housing Observatory Chair of the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV), published last week, states that the average price of a new multifamily home in Valencia is 4,500 euros per square meter.
At that price, a 90-square-meter apartment requires a 20% down payment that amounts to around 80,000 euros, hardly achievable for the average person. It is also telling that this Chair highlights that, since it has been issuing its reports (2019), the average long-term rental price in Valencia has accumulated a 90% increase, “doubling the financial effort required.”
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The average long-term rental price in Valencia has accumulated a 90% increase since 2019
In this regard, yesterday the Valencian Government highlighted that the Valencian Institute of Finance (IVF) has increased the allocation of its Guarantee Program for Home Purchase in the Valencian Community to 60 million euros, which allows complementing the guarantee of the banking entity that will grant the mortgage loan so that the buyer can obtain a loan of up to 100% between the appraisal value or the purchase price and that, since its launch in June 2024, has approved more than 3,100 guarantees, benefiting 4,645 young people from the Valencian Community.
A percentage that, if we consider the entire young population, represents 0.6% of the Valencian population – according to INJUVE data, there are 751,695 Valencians aged between 15 and 29 years – who have been satisfied by the real estate market. But before that, there has been searching, castings like Fernando’s, and impossible rents that they cannot access. Real estate offices know this, as many arrive motivated looking for apartments between 500 and 700 euros, figures almost bygone in Valencia, since the ASICVAL survey recognizes that 34.3% of Valencian tenants intend to pay rents in that range, but in reality only 9% of rentals close at that price. Expectations vs reality.
There are 4,645 young people from the Valencian Community who have accessed IVF guarantees for home purchase
Fewer and fewer young people are accessing their own key or rental, in this case. The ASICVAL survey also reflects that the average age has already reached 36.6 years, compared to 32.5 years recorded five years ago, confirming the delay in emancipation and the inability to make the leap from renting to buying the first home. People between 30 and 40 years old (46.3%) continue to be the main group of tenants, followed by those aged 20-30 years (38.8%) and 40-50 years (11.9%).
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