Housing has ceased to be a price problem and has become a real access problem, according to the Housing Observatory of the Universitat Politècnica de València. The scarcity of supply has overwhelmed the city of Valencia and has shifted pressure to the metropolitan area, where prices already replicate, and in some cases exceed, those of the capital. This is reflected in the report for the first quarter of 2026 from the Housing Observatory Chair.
“"Housing no longer fits in Valencia. Demand is not resolved within the city; it moves outside, and it does so with increasing intensity."
This displacement is consolidating a new scenario. Metropolitan municipalities, such as Godella and Burjassot, already exceed €4,000/m², demonstrating that market tension has spread throughout the residential system. The origin of this situation is a structural imbalance between supply and demand. The production of new housing remains well below real needs, while demand continues to grow steadily, largely driven by demographic evolution.
The problem is not only quantity but also product. Homes are being built that do not respond to the economic capacity of most households, excluding young people and middle-income earners. In this context, Publicly Protected Housing is once again a key tool, although its development remains clearly insufficient. The rental market is also not absorbing this demand, with rising prices and reduced supply.
Furthermore, the reduction of bank financing in initial phases and the growing dependence on alternative capital limit the capacity to generate new supply. The report raises the need to rethink the residential model, proposing the development of a new type of affordable rental housing, conceived as a flexible, temporary access solution adapted to the real economic capacity of households.
“"Housing has become a systemic problem. And that system is no longer urban: it is metropolitan."
