Saving to pay the down payment on a mortgage is the main obstacle when it comes to acquiring a home that you own. So much so that in some cases this task extends over a period of more than 15 years. This is what happens in cities like Palma de Mallorca, Barcelona, Valladolid or San Sebastián.
All four top the ranking of locations where it takes more time to save 20% of the down payment of a mortgage loan , according to a study by the European deposit platform Raisin. The report takes into account the average salary in each locality, the cost of living, the price of housing per square meter or regional taxes.
In the case of Palma de Mallorca, the time necessary to obtain the entry of the mortgage reaches 16 years and one month.
The result is due to the fact that the Balearic city is a holiday destination where many users have a second residence, and where there is little offer available in the market, which makes the price of housing more expensive. In addition, and according to the report, average salaries are “quite low in relation to the cost of living.”
Specifically, salaries amount to 17,424 euros on average after taxes, compared to bills for the cost of living of 1,916 euros per month . Barcelona is the second city where more time is needed to save and the situation is similar to that of Palma.
The average annual salary after taxes reaches 22,212 euros, but the cost of living is high and the average price of properties amounts to 344,994 euros. In this way, it takes 15 years and 6 months to get the mortgage down. The figure is similar to that of Valladolid where users wait 15 years and 5 months to have all the money for the entry.
The list is followed by San Sebastián (15 years and 4 months); Pamplona (14 years and 10 months); Madrid, (14 years and 8 months); and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (14 years and 7 months) . In the cities of Bilbao, Marbella, Malaga or Alicante you also need to save more than 10 years to buy a house.
“One of the main reasons that potential buyers of a property are concerned about is the price of the entrance, and how to save for it. We know that the investment to buy a home entails a large initial outlay . It is not just the entrance, rather, it requires having sufficient savings to cover the associated purchase and sale expenses.
That is why, before thinking about buying a home, we recommend resorting to effective saving methods that allow raising the necessary money and taking the city into account according to available savings “, explains Mónica Pina Alzugaray, country manager of Raisin Spain.
Less time
The cities where it is fastest to access a home are Almería (4 years and 9 months); Cartagena (4 years and 10 months); Jerez de la Frontera (5 years and 8 months); Lleida (6 years), and Córdoba (6 years and 3 months).
The report also highlights that there are towns where it is not worth buying a house , since rents are especially low and purchase prices high, as is the case in Ourense.