Engineer on €60,000 a year still can't buy a flat in Madrid
A 31-year-old engineer earning €60,000 gross cannot buy a €550,000 flat in Coslada, Spain. We break down the generational gap and the numbers behind it.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
The engineer on €60,000 who can't buy a home: the generational gap in Madrid
In Coslada, a 90-square-metre flat built in 1985 is on sale for €550,000. A 31-year-old engineer with a gross salary of €60,000 (€3,000 net a month) cannot afford it. Not that one, nor any other on the outskirts of Madrid. The paradox has blown up in an everyday conversation that sums up the state of housing in Spain: while the generation that bought in the 80s and 90s sees itself as winners, today's generation, with high technical salaries, is locked out of the market unless they inherit.
The salary that falls short: €60,000 gross, €3,000 net and a €550,000 flat
The price-to-income ratio for that property is 9.2 times the annual gross salary. In Madrid, banks usually grant mortgages of up to 3.5 times the joint gross income. An engineer on their own cannot get more than €210,000 in financing. They would need €340,000 in savings for the down payment and taxes. With a net salary of €3,000 a month, saving 30% for 10 years would barely reach €108,000. The maths doesn't lie: either there are two salaries or there's an inheritance. This is not opinion: according to the Banco de España (Spain's central bank), the effort required to buy a home in Madrid exceeds 50% of household income.
The problem is made worse by hidden costs. ITP (property transfer tax) at 10% (€55,000), plus notary, registry, agency and valuation fees (around €5,000). In total, more than €600,000 for a €550,000 flat. And then the mortgage: at a fixed 3% over 30 years, the monthly payment is around €2,000, two thirds of the engineer's net salary.
Generational hypocrisy: the one who got lucky and now complains
The neighbour who mocked an unemployed young man in 2009 today has his engineer son living at home. In 2009, house prices in Madrid had fallen 30% from the 2007 peak, and interest rates were at historic lows. Buying back then was easier, not on merit, but because of the economic cycle. Now, with rates at 4% and prices that haven't corrected since 2015, the older generation applies double standards: they defend the free market until it affects their children. Then, the market is to blame.
The irony needs no underlining: the "hard work" narrative crashes against the numbers. A salary of €60,000 is high by national standards (average income 2023: €30,000), but in metropolitan Madrid it puts the engineer at the threshold of what banks consider "moderate risk". Housing isn't expensive because young people don't work hard, but because the expansionary monetary policy of the last decade inflated assets while wages grew below inflation.
The escape routes: remote work, Soria and exile to the provinces
Faced with the impossibility of buying in Madrid, some opt for mid-sized cities. An 80-square-metre flat in Soria costs €250,000. With a net salary of €1,500 in Soria (lower than the €3,000 in Madrid), the mortgage payment would be around €850 a month (fixed rate 3%, 30 years, €50,000 down payment). The burden is still high, but antiestéticasible. However, the average salary in Soria is lower, and finding a €60,000 job there is the exception. Partial remote work offers a way out, but doesn't solve the structural problem.
The alternative is renting. In Madrid, renting a 90-square-metre flat in Coslada costs around €1,200 a month, 40% of the engineer's net salary. Experts recommend not exceeding 30%. The rental market gives no respite: according to the INE (Spain's statistics institute), rents have risen 25% since 2017.
The question nobody answers: when will prices correct?
Those predicting a 20-30% correction within two or three years base it on rising interest rates and slowing demand. But supply remains insufficient: fewer than 10,000 homes a year are built in Madrid, versus the 50,000 needed according to the regional government. As long as demand doesn't fall through emigration or recession, prices will hold. The question the market cannot answer is whether the €60,000 engineer will ever be able to buy without family help.
The painful fact: a high technical salary no longer guarantees housing independence in the capital. The conversation with the neighbour wasn't an anecdote, but a mirror of a country where personal merit clashes with an economy of inflated assets. The engineer earns well, but can't buy. And his father, who bought at 25, now watches and doesn't understand why.
Related discussions in the forum
In Coslada, a 90-square-metre flat built in 1985 is on sale for €550,000. A 31-year-old engineer with a gross salary of €60,000 (€3,000 net a month) cannot afford it. Not that one, nor any other on the outskirts of Madrid. The paradox has blown up in an everyday conversation that sums up the state of housing in Spain: while the generation that bought in the 80s and 90s sees itself as winners, today's generation, with high technical salaries, is locked out of the market unless they inherit.
The salary that falls short: €60,000 gross, €3,000 net and a €550,000 flat
The price-to-income ratio for that property is 9.2 times the annual gross salary. In Madrid, banks usually grant mortgages of up to 3.5 times the joint gross income. An engineer on their own cannot get more than €210,000 in financing. They would need €340,000 in savings for the down payment and taxes. With a net salary of €3,000 a month, saving 30% for 10 years would barely reach €108,000. The maths doesn't lie: either there are two salaries or there's an inheritance. This is not opinion: according to the Banco de España (Spain's central bank), the effort required to buy a home in Madrid exceeds 50% of household income.
The problem is made worse by hidden costs. ITP (property transfer tax) at 10% (€55,000), plus notary, registry, agency and valuation fees (around €5,000). In total, more than €600,000 for a €550,000 flat. And then the mortgage: at a fixed 3% over 30 years, the monthly payment is around €2,000, two thirds of the engineer's net salary.
Generational hypocrisy: the one who got lucky and now complains
The neighbour who mocked an unemployed young man in 2009 today has his engineer son living at home. In 2009, house prices in Madrid had fallen 30% from the 2007 peak, and interest rates were at historic lows. Buying back then was easier, not on merit, but because of the economic cycle. Now, with rates at 4% and prices that haven't corrected since 2015, the older generation applies double standards: they defend the free market until it affects their children. Then, the market is to blame.
The irony needs no underlining: the "hard work" narrative crashes against the numbers. A salary of €60,000 is high by national standards (average income 2023: €30,000), but in metropolitan Madrid it puts the engineer at the threshold of what banks consider "moderate risk". Housing isn't expensive because young people don't work hard, but because the expansionary monetary policy of the last decade inflated assets while wages grew below inflation.
The escape routes: remote work, Soria and exile to the provinces
Faced with the impossibility of buying in Madrid, some opt for mid-sized cities. An 80-square-metre flat in Soria costs €250,000. With a net salary of €1,500 in Soria (lower than the €3,000 in Madrid), the mortgage payment would be around €850 a month (fixed rate 3%, 30 years, €50,000 down payment). The burden is still high, but antiestéticasible. However, the average salary in Soria is lower, and finding a €60,000 job there is the exception. Partial remote work offers a way out, but doesn't solve the structural problem.
The alternative is renting. In Madrid, renting a 90-square-metre flat in Coslada costs around €1,200 a month, 40% of the engineer's net salary. Experts recommend not exceeding 30%. The rental market gives no respite: according to the INE (Spain's statistics institute), rents have risen 25% since 2017.
The question nobody answers: when will prices correct?
Those predicting a 20-30% correction within two or three years base it on rising interest rates and slowing demand. But supply remains insufficient: fewer than 10,000 homes a year are built in Madrid, versus the 50,000 needed according to the regional government. As long as demand doesn't fall through emigration or recession, prices will hold. The question the market cannot answer is whether the €60,000 engineer will ever be able to buy without family help.
The painful fact: a high technical salary no longer guarantees housing independence in the capital. The conversation with the neighbour wasn't an anecdote, but a mirror of a country where personal merit clashes with an economy of inflated assets. The engineer earns well, but can't buy. And his father, who bought at 25, now watches and doesn't understand why.
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (18 replies).
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