Increasingly valuable homes and increasingly crowded lives. It is the new equation of aging Spain, of the group of people over 65 years of age, which already represents 20.7% of the total population in Spain. It is also the new subscription for formulas that allow housing to be monetized, with great weight in other countries such as the United Kingdom, but mostly unknown in Spain. The housing assets of older people have revalued very significantly in recent years, well above the CPI and pensions. According to the INE, housing prices in Spain rose by around 30% between 2021 and the end of 2025, with an especially strong jump in 2024-2025, when there were increases of 10% and 13% annually, the highest since the bubble. The home that they once bought cheap has become so expensive that it has become an asset cushion, although this does not always translate into a more comfortable life. «The savings accumulated in brick by those over 65 years of age exceeds 980,000 million euros. «To understand the magnitude of this figure, it is enough to compare it with the total assets of the pension plans in Spain, which stands at about 138,000 million euros, that is, seven times higher,» says Íñigo Hernández, director of Business Development of the company Óptima Mayores. These figures are new roots for a slow market, but called to take off at some point. “It will grow exponentially because the need exists. We are seeing people with economic difficulties and with houses that could be made profitable,” believes Trinidad Martín-Orozco, general director of Santander Mapfre Hipoteca Inversa, a joint venture that has been marketing reverse mortgages since the end of 2023. In 2025 the entity signed 265 reverse mortgages, “around 40% of the market.”
Reverse mortgage: sustained growth
The reverse mortgage continues to be a very minority product, but growth is sustained. The General Council of Notaries counts 366 operations until the third quarter of 2025. From these figures, Óptima Mayores estimates that around 470 reverse mortgages were authorized in Spain, which represents a growth of 54% compared to 2024. “Even so, everything suggests that we are very far from the enormous penetration potential it has in Spain,” says Hernández. The average amount of the loan requested amounted to 149,142 euros, while the appraised value of the home on which the reverse mortgage was established reached 512,464 euros. The average age of the client was 75.5 years and four out of ten used it to cover current expenses. The reverse mortgage, with rates ranging from 5.5% to 7.4% and compound interest, allows money to be released from the home to be used for any type of need. In this case, the owner remains the owner of the home, maintaining all his rights over it, including the possibility of renting it or paying off the loan early. It is designed so that the heirs are the ones who, once they receive the house as inheritance, cancel the debt generated up to that moment, that is, the debt is not paid during life. Martín-Orozco identifies the barriers that are delaying takeoff, such as mistrust and lack of knowledge of the product or misconceptions about it, in part because there have been cases of poor marketing in the past that generated a negative perception. “Only 76% of seniors do not trust any formula for asset liquefaction, which demonstrates the need to offer clear information about their operation and the guarantees they offer,” according to the V Senior Consumer Barometer of the Ageingnomics Research Center of the Mapfre Foundation. We must not forget the strong tendency to leave the house as an inheritance. «In our country there is a social and cultural conception of thinking about housing as a legacy for my children; it is unknown that this property is not lost to be inherited and that is why it costs more,» says Nuria López, director of Reverse Mortgage at Helvetia Caser. Although this also seems to begin to change. 34% of those over 55 years of age who own their home prioritize leaving it to their children or relatives, which represents a drop of six points and reflects a change in mentality, according to the barometer. But the turning point for takeoff will be the entry of more banks and insurers into the market. One of the veteran insurers in the sector is Caser, which in the last two years has signed 173 reverse mortgage operations. The company has reinforced its commitment to 2025 with a new modality that allows it to receive a greater amount of money monthly by concentrating the payment of the capital in a shorter period of time, instead of distributing it throughout the life of the holder. “Evidently, the high values of homes together with the limitations of public pensions help this formula for liquefaction of real estate assets,” believes the director of Reverse Mortgage at Helvetia Caser. In 2025, the adoption rate stands at 48 reverse mortgages for every million people over 65 years of age. If we look at the United Kingdom, a European benchmark in this segment, we observe much higher volumes, having reached more than 50,000 operations per year. “This gap shows the immense scope for development that Spain has, where home ownership conditions are even more favorable for this product than in the British Isles,” says the director of Óptima Mayores, an advisory company with the largest number of these operations in Spain.
Real right of habitation
Beyond the mortgage loan, there are formulas that directly involve getting rid of the property. In the second half of 2025, Mutua Madrileña launched Viventua, a new product for people over 65 who want to obtain liquidity from the sale of their primary home without giving up continuing to live in it for life. The owner sells his home to the investment fund Mutuafondo Propiedad Premium, FILPE, managed by Mutuáculos (100% of the Mutua Group) and receives the amount agreed upon at the time of signing. At the same time, he reserves a real right of habitation for life and free of charge, which legally guarantees him to be able to reside in his home until his death. “The real right of habitation is a legal right included in the Civil Code that allows the seller to continue living in his house for life, safely and without paying rent, even if the property has been transferred to the Mutuocitos fund,” says Borja Martiarena, director of Real Estate Investments at Mutuocitos, who states that “the first real estate operations have already been closed.” «purchase and sale». The elderly person assumes the ordinary expenses (supplies, taxes, the usual community fee and the maintenance of the home), while Mutuáculos is responsible for the extraordinary community expenses and the damage insurance on the property. “It is a very personal right, non-transferable, non-seizable and cannot be mortgaged or pledged, which reinforces the legal protection of the seller and prevents improper uses of the right,” maintains Martiarena. The formula is different from the reverse mortgage, although the objective is the same: “To help supplement income in retirement, maintain quality of life and provide peace of mind in a context marked by increased life expectancy and pressure on the public pension system,” says the manager.
Reverse housing
A variant is the reverse housing modality, which allows you to sell the property and continue using it by paying rent. Carmen Castaño, 78 years old, made one with Almagro Capital just a month and a half ago. “Three people inherited this house: my sister and I, who are single and live in it, and another brother with children,” says this woman who has worked in banking all her life. Resolving this mess and avoiding future disputes was a priority, although the sisters did not like the idea of leaving their home or their neighborhood. “My house is wonderful.” There are 160 square meters on Zurbano Street (Madrid) for which you have received 80% of the appraisal value. “We have distributed it among the three brothers so tomorrow we will have a remnant there.” The person who bought Carmen’s house is Almagro Capital, a manager that has promoted several investment vehicles under the REIT regime and is a leader in reverse housing investment. «These people want to use their home to plan their future and choose to sell cheaper, but live in their home; they are looking for peace of mind, not to maximize their money,» says Felipe de los Ríos, co-founder and CEO of Almagro Capital. This manager buys with a discount ranging from 45% to 90%, depending on the age, the asset and its location. “We have bought more than 500 houses in the last 10 years in the main capitals and more than half have been in the last four years,” says De los Ríos. «Interest has increased exponentially. The market is increasingly known and we believe that we are at the right time and in the right market.» Reverse housing is a property purchase and sale operation with the simultaneous signing of a life lease contract, which allows the owner to sell their home and continue living in it for life. The seller becomes a life tenant, not a usufructuary. In addition, the rent – estimated for 10 years – is prepaid and there are no monthly payments while the oldest person lives in the home, even if they survive that decade. If he decides to go to a residence or dies earlier, the unconsumed part of the rent is returned to him or the heirs.
Bare property
With the sale of the bare ownership, the property is also sold and the right to reside in it is maintained, but there is no life rental. This is one of the most popular operations. Consolación Pérez, 76 years old and without children, has sold the bare ownership of her house with the Eduardo Molet real estate agency, specialized in these operations. “Five years ago my retired life was not bad, I had a good pension, the house was paid for and I could bear expenses, but life became complicated for me.” Community payments and spills, the increases in electricity and gas bills, the payment of the IBI and a health problem caused his pension to fall short. «I’ve been very lucky. They found an investor in less than six months,» he says. And he also only had to reduce 6,000 euros. He has obtained almost 70% of the value of the home and the payment of the spills in exchange for his four-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment in Fuente del Berro (Madrid). Her family is unaware of the step taken by Consolación, who was clear that she did not want to “owe anyone anything or complicate the family’s life.” Eduardo Molet detects a clear increase in interest in the sale of the bare property, but with important nuances. «It is not an impulsive or generalized decision. The oldest does not take the plunge easily. It is a product that requires pedagogy, trust and time.» Molet talks about the current favorable circumstances: “Pressure on purchasing power, revaluation of real estate assets, longer life expectancy and a progressive cultural change: there is less and less attachment to “leaving everything as an inheritance” and more focus on living better in the present.” According to the Yearbook of Property Registrars, in 2025, 1,799 bare property sales and purchases were registered, reducing by 19 compared to the previous year. After several years of growth, in the last two years there has been a certain degree of stability. None of these modalities are taxed in personal income tax: the reverse mortgage, because the amounts received are considered a loan, and bare ownership and reverse housing when they affect the habitual residence of people over 65 years of age, as the capital gain is exempt.
