With property prices continuing to climb across Spain, finding the perfect home on your first try its increasingly unrealistic.
Experts say buyers, especially those in their early 30s, are now settling for a so-called ‘piso puente’ (bridge flat).
It means they are opting for a smaller and more affordable home that may be far from their first choice, but with the intention of selling it within five years to move onto something closer to their dream property.
That shift is being seen clearly among younger buyers, says Francesc Quintana, secretary of the board at the AIC.
He told Idealista: ‘We saw that young people who were starting to move out on their own now, around 30 years old… had managed to save up, but they were leaving with very high and unrealistic expectations given the recent price increases in the market.
‘So we strongly promote that stepping-home, that small apartment, that one- or two-bedroom studio that allows you to enter the market.’
The idea is not to settle forever, but to move up later: ‘With that, the buyer can take the leap in about five years.’
Economist Gonzalo Bernardos agrees the concept is far from new.
‘When you buy your first home, most people don’t buy the one they want, but the one they can afford,’ he says, calling it the first step on the housing ladder.
The real obstacle today, he adds, isn’t the monthly mortgage but the upfront costs: ‘The difficulty… lies in having the capital that the bank won’t lend you,’ which in some regions can amount to 31% of the purchase price.
For property expert Eva Gonzalez-Nebreda, the trend fits modern lifestyle patterns.
‘Because it aligns with the logic of family size changing throughout life,’ she explained, noting that buyers now value flexibility and the option to sell or move on rather than commit for decades.
All three experts stress one key rule: it has to be affordable. Quintana warns against overreaching and sacrificing quality of life, while Gonzslez-Nebreda sets a clear limit.
She said: ‘It has to be financially manageable, not a burden for the buyer… the debt-to-income ratio shouldn’t exceed 30% of their income.’
Done right, the bridging apartment can work. Done badly, it can trap buyers for years. The difference, as Bernardos puts it, is thinking not just about buying but about how and when you’ll sell.
