Corporate investors are increasingly withdrawing from Catalonia’s residential property market, selling 12,010 more homes than they purchased across the region in 2025. This significant net sell-off confirms a growing trend of corporate disinvestment and a gradual transfer of housing stock from legal entities to private individuals, as a new analysis of notary data reveals.

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This phenomenon, which gathered pace last year, is not unique to Catalonia. Across Spain, companies sold 45,108 more homes than they acquired. Specifically, in Barcelona city, corporate entities recorded a net 1,705 more sales than purchases. The report, ‘X-ray of the housing market in Catalonia with notary data’, detailed these findings, presented jointly on Friday by the Col·legi d’Economistes de Catalunya (College of Economists) and the Colegio Notarial de Catalunya (Notarial College).

This corporate retreat coincides with housing access dominating political debate. The issue has proven a central negotiating point for the Generalitat de Catalunya‘s 2026 budget between Salvador Illa’s Socialist Party (PSC) and the left-wing Comuns, the party of former Barcelona mayor Ada Colau. Indeed, the Comuns have demanded limits on property purchases for investment purposes in high-demand areas to approve the government’s accounts.

The Numbers Behind the Trend

The report, covered by La Vanguardia, breaks down the scale of corporate activity. Albert Martínez Lacambra, director of the Notarial Technology Centre, stated that legal entities accounted for just 10.7% of the 734,204 home purchases across Spain last year.

In Catalonia, this figure was slightly higher, reaching 12.3% of 114,508 total transactions and rising to 13.8% within Barcelona city’s 17,133 registered sales. For the whole of Catalonia, companies bought 14,084 flats but sold 26,094, creating a net difference of 12,010 properties.

Private buyers are acquiring a significant portion of this divested stock. In Catalonia, individuals bought nearly 12% (11.93%) of the homes sold by companies, a higher proportion than the national average of 7%. Barcelona city saw a similar rate of 11.54%.

A Matter of Confidence and Supply

During the report’s presentation, senior figures suggested that data does not support the narrative of companies ‘depredating’ the housing supply. Carles Puig de Travy, dean of the College of Economists, stressed that policy must be based on “solid and long data series,” particularly since housing has become Catalans’ primary concern and a political bargaining chip. Although some political groups have unsuccessfully pushed for inquiries into property speculation, this data suggests the market’s core problems may lie elsewhere.

José Alberto Marín, dean of the Notarial College of Catalonia, linked the market’s health to legal stability. “When discussing housing, business, or financial integrity, we refer to structural confidence, not just transactions,” he stated. “We build this confidence on the legal security we provide, which is essential for economic growth.”

The study’s authors conclude that the central issue is not institutional investors accumulating homes, but rather a chronic lack of available supply. This scarcity continues to put upward pressure on prices, pushing them towards pre-financial crisis levels and forcing some developers to seek opportunities on the outskirts of Barcelona.

Despite the corporate sell-off, accessing the property ladder remains exceptionally difficult, particularly for young people. In 2025, buyers aged 18 to 30 accounted for just 12.84% of purchases, almost half their 2007 share (24.75%). Consequently, the market remains heavily reliant on mortgage credit and family assistance. In Catalonia, 71.2% of 2025 sales involved financing, with the average mortgage reaching €191,215 (€249,181 in Barcelona city). Furthermore, parental support has become critical, as housing donations from parents to children in Catalonia nearly doubled from 1,483 in 2019 to 2,921 last year.