Valencia's Housing Market Crisis: Agencies Struggle Amidst Dwindling Supply

Valencia's Real Estate Sector Faces Crisis as Agencies Run Out of Homes to Sell Valencia's Real Estate Sector in Crisis: Agencies Struggle with Dwindling Housing Supply The real estate sector in Valencia is currently facing significant challenges, with agencies finding it increasingly difficult to secure properties for sale. According to a report by El País (2025), the number of properties available in Valencia has plummeted from 13,364 in 2019 to approximately 3,000 in March of this year. This drastic reduction of 75% is creating unprecedented difficulties for real estate agencies, forcing them to adopt unconventional tactics to find available homes. The Desperate Search for Properties The scarcity of available properties has led to some unusual strategies. As reported by El País (2025), many Valencian streets are now adorned with posters reading: «Hello, I’m Nacho, and I am interested in buying an apartment. I have €250,000 in cash. Call me.» However, these are not prospective buyers but real estate agents desperately seeking new listings. «In September, I ran out of homes to offer. It had never happened to me before. I spent a month like that and was able to work thanks to the properties I had outside the capital,» said Vicente Díez, spokesperson for the College of Real Estate Agents of Valencia and owner of an agency in the Blasco Ibáñez area (El País, 2025). Díez notes that he had to expand his operations beyond the metropolitan area to survive, where there is still room to operate (El País, 2025). «The situation in Valencia is undeniable,» laments Díaz, who has 25 years of experience in property sales. Factors Contributing to the Crisis Several factors are contributing to this crisis: Lack of New Construction: The shortage of newly built apartments has stalled the relocation of homeowners to new properties, slowing down the release of second-hand homes onto the market, explains Nora García, president of Asicval (El País, 2025). Many homeowners prefer to renovate and stay in their current homes. Increased Demand: The new credit environment, with lower interest rates, has boosted demand, especially from foreign investors (El País, 2025). This combination of low supply and high demand means that available properties are quickly snapped up. Carlos Peiró, founder of Callaghan Inmobiliaria, notes that properties now leave agency portfolios in less than 24 hours, compared to two months before the COVID-19 pandemic (El País, 2025). «Many of these do not even get published on our portals,» he shares. The Impact on Real Estate Agencies The current situation is threatening the survival of many real estate agencies. García predicts that 20% of agencies will not last more than two or three months (El País, 2025). «In areas like Ruzafa, there is practically no stock,» she warns. Asicval estimates that around 1,200 real estate companies operate in Valencia, and 2,400 in the entire province (El País, 2025). Pau Romero, who independently runs a digital real estate agency, explains that traditional agencies have started offering tourist rental services to capitalize on the booming market. The increased housing prices and demand have also led to more generous commissions for agents, which has helped them survive (El País, 2025). Rising Property Prices The latest report from the Housing Observatory of the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV) for the fourth quarter of 2024 confirms that new housing prices in Valencia have increased by 80% in the last five years (El País, 2025). Who is Buying in Valencia? According to Mauricio Serrano, a real estate advisor at Buve, the interest from Russian and Ukrainian buyers has increased significantly since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, although they are primarily interested in luxury properties exceeding €400,000 (El País, 2025). Peiró of Callaghan adds that many buyers from the United States have also started showing interest in Spain to escape the policies of [Donald] Trump (El País, 2025). Many transactions are being conducted in cash to renovate and rent properties, a business with a profitability of 7.5%, compared to the Spanish average of around 6% (El País, 2025). The Impact on Average-Income Households Asicval points out that the situation is excluding average-income households from accessing housing. Offers below €100,000 have practically disappeared from the Valencian market, and those available are often illegally occupied (El País, 2025). «If this continues, in a few years, we will see families only being able to opt for rental rooms,» laments Peiró (El País, 2025). This complex situation affects households with limited savings or young people wanting to buy a home. The Way Forward The influx of migrants further strains the situation, with few new construction projects underway. The UPV report shows that there are only 40 active developments in the city, compared to 110 in the last quarter of 2019 (El País, 2025). Real estate agents are resorting to old tactics and new technologies to find available properties. Díez admits that some agents pay up to €500 to neighbors who provide leads on properties for sale (El País, 2025). The practice of using «intermediaries» is becoming more common. García emphasizes the importance of transparency and registered agents in all sales. She believes that adding value to existing clients is the best way to generate organic recommendations (El País, 2025). However, the limited supply of properties challenges this approach. Adapting to Survive Carlos Lecanda notes that technology is key to finding properties for sale. Using tools like CRM programs to manage client relationships is increasingly essential for survival. «It’s adapt or be eaten by the market,» says Lecanda, who finds online searches more efficient than door-to-door tactics (El País, 2025). «If you know how to do it, you can get 200 contacts in 10 minutes.» The Outlook Entrepreneurs foresee a continued rise in demand as financing becomes cheaper and more residents move to the city. However, there are no immediate prospects for new construction in Valencia. Peiró concludes, «Regardless of the political party, we urgently need to unlock land for building. Otherwise, there is no clear way to get the sector out of check» (El País, 2025).