▪ Culmia presents the second edition of its report, “The Homebuyer’s Journey in Spain,” which analyzes the current and future landscape for homebuyers in Spain and in various regions, and explores market trends.

▪ 17% of Andalusians have not applied for financial assistance because they believe they are not eligible, while only 4.6% say they have applied for an ICO guarantee, and 4.8% have applied for the assistance programs aimed at home purchases in rural areas under the State Housing Plan.

▪ 53.4% of respondents believe that housing options on the current market do not meet their financial expectations, and 18.5% say they do not meet their needs in terms of space and design.

▪ Although homeownership is the most common housing option across all age groups, other alternatives are beginning to emerge among the most sought-after options, such as affordable rental housing (15.5%) and publicly subsidized housing (11.1%).

▪ 33.6% of users say that whether a home is healthy is a determining factor in their purchase. By age group, those over 65 are the most influenced by this factor.

▪ When asked what the home of the future will be like, 23% closely associate it with home automation and artificial intelligence.

▪ This edition of the report includes children’s views on the home of the future. For them, robots and AI will be a reality in the home. And they hope for spacious, flexible, and bright places to live.

Culmia, the real estate platform that brings together all the housing solutions available on the market, has released the second edition of the report “The Homebuyer’s Journey in Spain,” this time with data focused on Andalusia. The report was prepared in collaboration with the polling firm Sigmados, and it provides an up-to-date and detailed overview of the profile of homebuyers in Spain based on surveys conducted among a representative sample of more than 2,000 citizens over the age of 26 across Andalusia, the Community of Madrid, Catalonia, the Valencian Community, the Basque Country, and Galicia.

In addition to providing an overview of the residential market in Spain and Andalusia, and of the profile of homebuyers in particular, the report examines emerging trends related to the home of the future and explores the significance of certain factors—such as digitalization, sustainability, energy efficiency, and new forms of interaction—in this context.

The report reveals that 73% of Andalusians who have been looking for a home in the past year have not applied for any of the financial assistance programs offered by the government to help them begin the home-buying process. Of these, 17% did not apply because they believed they were not eligible. However, 4.6% have applied for an ICO guarantee, and 4.8% have applied for assistance under the State Housing Plan.

Among those who have applied for some form of assistance, this option is most common among younger age groups—specifically, those between the ages of 30 and 44—with an average of 5.7% having applied.

When it comes to price, 53.9% of Andalusians believe that the housing options on the current market do not meet their financial expectations.

This data confirms the trend outlined in the previous report, which noted that all age groups agree on the need for more housing with more affordable prices and terms.

Meanwhile, 18.5% of Andalusians say that current market options do not meet their needs in terms of space and layout, 7.6% say they do not meet their expectations for common areas, and 6.4% say the current offerings do not meet their expectations for complementary services. Only 13.9% of respondents say that housing options on the current market meet their expectations.

The report highlights that the regulatory framework—such as the Housing Law—has led to an indefinite halt in home purchases for more than 37% of Andalusians, with the greatest impact felt among young people aged 26 to 29, at 67.3%. The report highlights that, among Andalusians who have considered buying a home in the past year but ultimately did not do so, 57.1% made this decision as a result of the enactment of the Housing Act and its regulatory impact.

It also reveals that, although homeownership is the most popular housing option across all age groups—with 70.2% of respondents considering it a possible option for the future—this percentage decreases as people get younger. The current market context is leading to the emergence of new housing options that were previously less in demand. In this regard, 15.5% of Andalusians consider affordable rental housing to be their primary option, followed by 11.1% who view publicly subsidized housing (VPO) as a possible future option, 2.1% who consider coliving, and 1.1% who consider flexible rental arrangements.

Younger people—those under 30 (65.5%)—are the least likely to view homeownership as a viable option for the future, while those over 65 (75.1%) are the most likely to choose homeownership.

In addition, 60.2% of Andalusians say they have considered renting an affordable home or one that receives some form of public subsidy. By age group, young adults—those between the ages of 30 and 44—are the ones most likely (17.6%) to view affordable rental housing as their preferred option for the future
.

These percentages corroborate the conclusions of the report that Culmia presented last July in Andalusia regarding the region’s need for affordable housing. In its study“Access to Housing in Spain: Focus on Andalusia,”the developer showed that the region needs a total of 160,000 homes, divided between affordable housing and public housing, in addition to another 39,000 homes that would require subsidies to encourage entry into the “Build to Sell” market. To meet this demand, public investment of 7,731 million euros would be required, implying an annual expenditure of 386.5 million euros over a 20-year program, equivalent to 0.21% of Andalusia’s GDP.

As the industry evolves, preferences regarding advice before, during, and after the purchase of a home are also changing.

More than 70% of Andalusians surveyed identified areas in which a real estate agency or developer can provide them with support during the home-buying process,
a finding that aligns with the results of the first edition of this report, in which support from the developer was one of the aspects that most helped customers
during this process.

In particular, more than 23% believe that a real estate agency or brokerage firm is helpful because of its better knowledge of the market and the advice it provides, followed by those who think that working with a real estate agency allows them to learn about more housing listings, at 20.2%.

By age group, as Andalusians get older, there is a growing preference for searching for housing without outside advice. While this preference stands at 36.1% among respondents aged 45 to 64, the figure drops to 8.3% for those under 30.

Meanwhile, when it comes to beginning negotiations for the purchase of a home, the report notes that more than 66% of those surveyed prefer to interact with the seller and complete the purchase process through personal contact with a professional.

The ability to customize a home is an important factor for more than 70% of Andalusians, although it is not a deciding factor in the home-buying process. Home design is a key consideration among those surveyed, with 74.4% of younger respondents placing the greatest importance on it.

Space and openness are the features that Andalusians value most in a home, at 71.2%. These are followed by natural light at 64.5% and, in third
place, the layout of the rooms at 53.5%, followed by the home’s orientation.

In the home-search process as well, about 33.6% of users say that whether a home is healthy is a determining factor in their purchase. 51.4% of people over 65 say that a home’s healthiness is a determining factor in their purchase, a figure that drops among people aged 26 to 29, who say that a home’s healthiness is relevant but does not determine their purchase.

Chemical pollutants(28.8%) are the aspect of home health that causes the most concern, followed by biological pollutants(22.3%) and physical pollutants (21.3%).

In addition, 18.1% of Andalusians prioritize sustainability in the home-building process and consider it an essential factor in the home-buying process; this factor is of greatest importance to those over 65.

This is reinforced by the fact that 75.5% of Andalusians say that energy certification is a deciding factor when buying a home, although 51.5% are not willing to pay for it. The main reason buyers prefer homes with a high energy efficiency rating is to save on energy costs, cited by 65.3% of respondents.

Regarding home automation, the report also reveals that nearly one in two Andalusians—48.1%—are looking for homes that include home automation features for efficient household management. This trend was already evident in the first edition of the report, where these features accounted for 3.1% of the most highly valued factors for reducing a home’s fixed expenses.

The second edition of Culmia’s report, “The Buyer’s Journey in Spain,” also explores Andalusians’ perceptions of the home of the future and analyzes emerging trends that will shape homes in the medium and long term. The report’s findings reveal that several ideals related to the home of the future are already being implemented today.

Among the essential values that Andalusians associate with the home of the future are affordability(28.5%), sustainability and energy efficiency(27.8%), and energy self-sufficiency(22.3%).

On the other hand, regarding the materials expected to be used in the homes of the future, the report reveals that most Andalusians believe they will continue to be built with traditional materials, followed by other options such as wood, in second place, and solar glass, in third place.

In line with the rise of new technologies, more than 23% of Andalusians believe that the home of the future will be a smart home. As a result, 33.5% believe that computers, smartphones, or tablets will be the primary means of interacting with the smart home, followed by communication through virtual assistants.

Regarding the process of buying the home of the future, the survey suggests that it will involve hyper-personalized advertising, followed by social media and viewing the home through augmented reality. It also raises the possibility that other channels may emerge in this process, such as viewing properties through holograms and the metaverse, as well as through influencers.

As for advice, it is believed that in-person interactions will be the most common channel for customer service during the home-buying process in the future. This is followed by phone support and support via WhatsApp.

Finally, regarding financing for future home purchases, Andalusians expect to rely on bank financing rather than other payment and financing methods such as using personal assets, property swaps, bare ownership, or crowdfunding or crowdlending.

How do children envision the home of the future?

As a new feature this year, the report also analyzed children’s views on the home of the future, offering a new perspective from the standpoint of future homebuyers in Spain.

Children imagine a future where homes will be deeply integrated with artificial intelligence, with all devices and appliances connected to the internet. They envision automated homes, where lighting, appliances, and household chores will be managed by robots and controlled via voice commands or remote controls. Furthermore, they associate artificial intelligence not only with the convenience of giving instructions, but also with the efficiency and energy savings it will provide in the operation of smart homes.

They envision a future where the rooms in homes will be completely dominated by electronics and artificial intelligence. They envision more spacious and functional spaces, where everything—from televisions and game consoles to the lights—will be voice-controlled. The lights, key players in this scenario, will be able to change color and brightness, and even turn off automatically when you fall asleep. They also expect cleaning and organization to be handled automatically. These smart rooms will create personalized environments, adapting the temperature, lighting, and space to the needs of the moment, all managed electronically via screens or voice commands.