Share of households in different tenure types, in percent, 2020 or latest year available. Source: OECD. EU Tenures and Dwellings by Type (Eurostat).
This international comparison of the distribution of housing tenures shows which housing markets are the most leveraged and exposed to rising interest rates, assuming that the majority of mortgages are variable rate. Spain is in the middle of the pack with 49% of homes owned outright, and just over a quarter of households still paying off a mortgage. In other words, Spain is less exposed to rising interest rates than other markets. From this data we also see that Spain has a relatively small rental sector with just 17.7% of households living in rented accomodation.
2020 or latest year (OECD)
Housing tenures (OECD id 145)
| COUNTRY | Own outright | Owner with mortgage | Rent (private) | Rent (subsidized) | Other, unknown |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Romania | 95.0 | 0.9 | 1.5 | 0.9 | 1.7 |
| Croatia | 84.9 | 6.4 | 1.5 | 1.3 | 5.9 |
| Lithuania | 83.6 | 7.8 | 0.8 | 1.6 | 6.2 |
| Bulgaria | 82.7 | 1.6 | 2.6 | 1.5 | 11.5 |
| Hungary | 78.9 | 12.1 | 4.5 | 3.5 | 1.0 |
| Slovak Republic | 72.6 | 18.9 | 6.8 | 0.7 | 1.0 |
| Poland | 70.6 | 11.9 | 4.0 | 1.2 | 12.4 |
| Latvia | 70.2 | 8.9 | 7.2 | 4.8 | 8.9 |
| Slovenia | 64.5 | 9.5 | 5.6 | 5.1 | 15.3 |
| Greece | 63.6 | 9.2 | 21.4 | 0.4 | 5.5 |
| Costa Rica | 62.7 | 9.6 | 18.0 | 0.0 | 9.8 |
| Mexico | 61.6 | 8.0 | 15.1 | 0.0 | 15.3 |
| Italy | 60.8 | 10.8 | 19.4 | 1.9 | 7.2 |
| Czech Republic | 58.9 | 16.6 | 17.8 | 1.2 | 5.4 |
| Korea | 58.7 | 0.0 | 32.3 | 5.2 | 3.8 |
| EU | 58.3 | 17.3 | 13.0 | 5.1 | 6.3 |
| Estonia | 57.6 | 19.1 | 5.7 | 4.1 | 13.5 |
| Malta | 56.8 | 21.7 | 11.4 | 5.4 | 4.8 |
| Türkiye | 55.7 | 0.0 | 28.8 | 0.0 | 15.4 |
| Chile | 49.4 | 11.0 | 21.9 | 0.0 | 17.7 |
| Spain | 49.0 | 26.4 | 14.4 | 3.3 | 6.9 |
| OECD | 48.2 | 23.3 | 16.8 | 6.7 | 5.0 |
| Cyprus | 47.0 | 14.6 | 17.9 | 1.1 | 19.4 |
| Portugal | 43.1 | 32.0 | 12.8 | 3.9 | 8.2 |
| Ireland | 41.1 | 28.7 | 10.7 | 18.4 | 1.1 |
| United Kingdom | 39.3 | 28.0 | 11.1 | 20.0 | 1.6 |
| France | 38.6 | 23.1 | 17.5 | 18.5 | 2.3 |
| Finland | 33.2 | 30.5 | 18.2 | 17.1 | 1.1 |
| Belgium | 32.9 | 33.2 | 23.5 | 8.9 | 1.6 |
| Colombia | 31.8 | 5.2 | 50.6 | 0.0 | 12.4 |
| New Zealand | 31.2 | 34.3 | 32.4 | 0.0 | 2.1 |
| Australia | 31.1 | 31.8 | 32.1 | 0.0 | 4.9 |
| Luxembourg | 30.3 | 35.0 | 26.1 | 6.0 | 2.5 |
| Canada | 29.9 | 39.3 | 30.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Austria | 29.5 | 18.9 | 43.8 | 0.0 | 7.8 |
| United States | 25.7 | 39.7 | 32.7 | 0.0 | 1.8 |
| Germany | 25.6 | 18.2 | 47.3 | 6.6 | 2.3 |
| Norway | 22.2 | 50.8 | 23.4 | 1.1 | 2.5 |
| Iceland | 18.7 | 48.6 | 16.7 | 12.7 | 3.4 |
| Denmark | 15.0 | 36.2 | 48.6 | 0.0 | 0.1 |
| Sweden | 14.9 | 43.6 | 39.4 | 0.0 | 2.2 |
| Netherlands | 9.2 | 48.8 | 40.8 | 0.0 | 1.1 |
| Switzerland | 4.5 | 33.5 | 55.5 | 5.7 | 0.9 |
| COUNTRY |
EU tenures, and households by type of property
In the EU, Spain has an above-average owner-occupancy rate, and the highest percentage of households living in flats as opposed to detached or semi-detached houses.
Housing tenures (Eurostat id 173)
| TENURE BY REGION | Owner 2021 | Tenant 2021 | House 2021 | Flat 2021 | Other 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EU 27 | 69.9 | 30.1 | 52.8 | 46.3 | 0.9 |
| Belgium | 71.3 | 28.7 | 77.3 | 22.3 | 0.4 |
| Bulgaria | 84.9 | 15.1 | 53.5 | 45.9 | 0.6 |
| Czechia | 78.3 | 21.7 | 48.0 | 51.4 | 0.5 |
| Denmark | 59.2 | 40.8 | 66.0 | 33.9 | 0.1 |
| Germany (W) | 49.1 | 50.9 | 40.9 | 56.4 | 2.7 |
| Estonia | 81.6 | 18.4 | 38.5 | 61.1 | 0.4 |
| Ireland | 70.0 | 30.0 | 90.0 | 9.8 | 0.1 |
| Greece | 73.3 | 26.7 | 42.6 | 57.4 | 0.0 |
| Spain | 75.8 | 24.2 | 34.1 | 65.7 | 0.1 |
| France | 64.7 | 35.3 | 65.6 | 33.6 | 0.8 |
| Croatia | 90.5 | 9.5 | 76.7 | 23.2 | 0.0 |
| Italy | 73.7 | 26.3 | 44.6 | 54.9 | 0.5 |
| Cyprus | 69.8 | 30.2 | 72.5 | 26.4 | 1.1 |
| Latvia | 83.2 | 16.8 | 33.9 | 65.2 | 0.9 |
| Lithuania | 89.0 | 11.0 | 39.7 | 58.9 | 1.4 |
| Luxembourg | 71.1 | 28.9 | 58.6 | 40.1 | 1.3 |
| Hungary | 91.7 | 8.3 | 72.1 | 27.4 | 0.5 |
| Malta | 81.9 | 18.1 | 42.1 | 57.4 | 0.4 |
| Netherlands | 70.1 | 29.9 | 80.0 | 17.5 | 2.5 |
| Austria | 54.2 | 45.8 | 53.2 | 46.2 | 0.6 |
| Poland | 86.8 | 13.2 | 55.4 | 44.5 | 0.1 |
| Portugal | 78.3 | 21.7 | 53.5 | 46.4 | 0.0 |
| Romania | 95.3 | 4.7 | 65.2 | 34.7 | 0.1 |
| Slovenia | 76.1 | 23.9 | 71.7 | 28.1 | 0.2 |
| Finland | 70.3 | 29.7 | 62.7 | 37.0 | 0.3 |
| Sweden | 64.9 | 35.1 | 52.5 | 47.1 | 0.3 |
| Switzerland | 42.2 | 57.8 | 34.0 | 63.3 | 2.7 |
| Serbia | 89.4 | 10.6 | 74.4 | 25.4 | 0.2 |
| Turkey | 57.5 | 42.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| TENURE BY REGION |
