The traditional belief that stable employment and an average salary would secure a decent home is being challenged by a rapidly escalating housing market. Over the past decade, property prices have surged far beyond household incomes, creating a widening gap that excludes many from homeownership.
Currently, over 70% of Europeans reside in areas where an average income cannot secure a home larger than 75 square meters, even with a 30-year mortgage. This finding comes from a study by researchers at the Vienna University of Technology, analyzing over 22 million property listings across 31 European countries.
The study highlights a severe housing crisis across the continent, where purchasing a home has become an increasingly unattainable goal. The 75-square-meter benchmark represents a typical two-bedroom family home, and the inability of 72% of Europeans to afford such a dwelling underscores the diminishing capacity of the middle class to become homeowners.
Spain is cited as an example of significant territorial inequality, with Madrid and coastal areas experiencing the highest price pressures due to tourism and second homes. This trend is mirrored in other countries like France, Portugal, Greece, and Croatia.
In major European cities, the situation is particularly dire, with 60% of urban residents unable to afford even a 50-square-meter home on an average wage. Across Europe, 44% of the population lives in areas with extreme unaffordability, where housing costs exceed one-third of household income, a threshold considered financially unsound.
The study also examines rental affordability, revealing that four in ten people live in regions where renting a one-bedroom apartment requires more than a third of household income. This dual challenge of high purchase prices and unaffordable rents makes it difficult for many, especially younger individuals and migrants, to transition to homeownership.
