Building surveyors warn: the pace of construction is insufficient to cope with the emergency
Despite the slight increase in projects, luxury housing accounts for half of all development and construction activity.
PalmNearly half of the housing projects approved in Mallorca in 2025 were detached houses and single-family homes, which continue to account for a significant portion of the sector's investment, while government authorities insist that multi-family housing should be the priority. Data from the College of Quantity Surveyors and Technical Architects of Mallorca (COAAT) indicates that a total of 2,139 homes were approved, of which 48.9% were detached houses, compared to 51.1% for apartments. However, the overall picture is not entirely negative, considering that the number of multi-family homes increased by 11.7% compared to the previous year.
The dean of the COAAT (Official Association of Architects of Mallorca), Luis Alfonso de León, admitted this Thursday during the presentation of the data that "new housing construction in Mallorca has not yet really taken off, although the trend of the last two years, in which more single-family homes were being built than multi-family homes, has been reversed." This change, according to the association, is still completely insufficient given the housing emergency. De León also highlighted that, especially in Palma, 694 apartments were approved, almost 50% more than in 2014. The slight improvement in the proportion of multi-family dwellings compared to large villas, however, is not so much due to the success of public policies as to the fact that the luxury market... This factor, notes the dean of the COAAT, contributes to a certain stabilization of the real estate market, but at the same time demonstrates that the construction of villas still has a disproportionate weight compared to the real needs of the resident population. Regarding the municipalities that most urbanize the territory with high land consumption formats, Palma tops the list with 131 approvals, followed by Capdepera (92), Calvià (88), Santanyí (49), Campos (49), Manacor (49), and Llucmajor (3). In this respect, there are not many new developments, and municipalities such as Capdepera and Calvià are consolidated as main poles of what is defined as 'chaletism'.
Second home versus luxury residential
Historically, the construction of single-family homes in Mallorca has been closely linked to second homes and luxury tourism, especially in coastal areas like Calvià and Andratx. This model has led to intensive land consumption and increasing pressure on services and infrastructure, while the demand for affordable housing for the local population remains unmet. According to data from the COAAT (Official Association of Architects of Mallorca), the number of building permits for single-family homes has been decreasing slightly since 2019, while those for multi-family homes are still stagnating at levels lower than five years ago, which, for the time being, prevents addressing the real housing needs. This situation highlights the imbalance between existing demand and urban development supply, one of the main challenges that, according to experts, must be addressed when planning the future of housing on the island in a context of population growth and a lack of supply.
Regarding the number of multi-family housing permits processed by municipality, Palma leads the professional association's statistics with 694 permits, followed by Marratxí (103) and Inca (72).