The percentage of property owners in the Community of Madrid who acknowledge keeping a vacant home has risen to 2.6% in 2026, up from 2.1% recorded a year earlier. This figure, derived from a Fotocasa Research survey conducted in the first half of the year, indicates a half-percentage-point increase in owners not using or renting out some of their properties, amidst a context of continuously rising property prices.
A study by Tinsa warns that many locations have registered significant price increases, exceeding 20% nominally. Among these are Torrejón de Ardoz, Parla, Coslada, Fuenlabrada (all within the Community of Madrid), Marbella (Málaga), Sagunto (Valencia), Santiago de Compostela (La Coruña), Benidorm (Alicante), and Talavera de la Reina (Toledo).
The predominant use of properties by owners is as their primary residence, with 97% utilizing them as such, a slight increase from the previous year. Conversely, the percentage of owners dedicating homes to second residences has slightly decreased from 12% to 11%. The proportion of owners renting out their properties for habitual residence also fell from 8% to 7%, while holiday or short-term rentals remain at very low levels, below 1%.
“"Vacant housing among individuals is a very limited phenomenon, and the vast majority do so for involuntary reasons such as the poor condition of the property, inheritance conflicts, or distrust towards tenants. The causes have varied, and what most strikes me is the climate of legal insecurity, as it would paralyze decisions that could bring more housing to the market."
Furthermore, 52% of municipalities in Spain show year-on-year nominal price increases exceeding 10% in housing prices, with particular intensity in the provinces of Madrid, Málaga, Valencia, La Coruña, Alicante, Toledo, Cádiz, and Santa Cruz de Tenerife, according to Tinsa data from March 2026. A total of 45 out of the 84 studied municipalities saw increases above 10% nominally, with year-on-year variations ranging from +37.8% to a decrease of 0.3%.
