Nearly 137,000 people live in inherited homes in the Balearic Islands.

PalmNearly 137,000 people live in inherited or gifted homes in the Balearic Islands, according to the latest survey by the Balearic Islands Statistics Institute (Ibestat) from 2021. According to this study, 11.3% of registered residents have accessed housing through this means. However, the vast majority, 655,504 of the 1,211,444 registered residents (55%), live in purchased homes. Of these, 352,427 still had outstanding mortgage payments to pay at the time of the survey's publication (29.09%), also representing the majority. And those who live in rental accommodation? They are slightly fewer: 276,655 people (22.84% of the total), while 30,330 residents live in homes that have been given to them for free or at a reduced price (2.5%).

The percentages are balanced across the islands, except for Ibiza and Formentera. In Mallorca, the majority (around 31%) live with a mortgage, a similar percentage to Menorca (29.52%). In contrast, in the Pitiusas, only 19.55% do so, while the majority, 35.3%, pay rent.

The mileuristas, between rent and mortgage

The study also offers this classification by income. Among those earning less than €500 per month (30,042 people), 21.44% live in an inherited apartment and 26.18% rent. The percentage of people living in a fully paid-for apartment drops to 12.63%, but those who pay a mortgage are 24.48%. Similarly, 10.71% of respondents whose income was between €500 and €1,000 per month lived in an inherited property; 29.7% lived in a purchased and paid-for apartment; 20.71% lived with outstanding mortgage payments; and 29.64% rented.

The number of people earning 1,500 euros a month is divided between renters (32.58%), those with mortgages (20.37%), and those living in paid-for apartments (25.86%), while 10.92% have access to an inheritance. Those earning between 1,500 and 2,000 euros are mostly mortgaged (30.95%), while 23.48% live in rented apartments and 22.69% live in paid-for apartments. Those who have access to an inherited property account for 8.78%.

Starting at 2,000 euros, they choose to buy

Citizens earning more than €2,000 opt for a mortgage. In this bracket, the majority are paying for their home in installments. Between 31% and 35% of people earning from €2,000 to €5,000 per month. At the same time, the number of people living in rented accommodation declines as their income increases: 25.55% among those earning less than €2,500 per month; 17.11% between €2,500 and €3,000; and 13.78% between €3,000 and €5,000 per month. The percentage of homeowners with no outstanding payments in this bracket ranges between 23% and 30%. Regarding inheritances, the figure also increases in line with income: from 8.3% to 15.46%.

Among citizens earning more than 5,000 euros per month, only 10.76% live in rented accommodation, while 12.35% live in an inherited home. 24.62% live in a paid-for home, and 24.14% live with a mortgage. However, a significant percentage, 27.56%, claim to live under another income regime, which is not specified in the study.