The regions of Tarragona are building housing at an insufficient rate to absorb population growth, a situation that, in the opinion of the Cambra de la Propietat Urbana de Tarragona, is pushing prices upwards and reducing the available supply in the residential market.
The entity puts figures to that imbalance. Between 2020 and 2024, 976 homes were completed in Tarragona, while the population increased by 6,636 people. The result is an average of 6.8 new residents per constructed home, well above the usual occupancy of the main residential park.
"The lack of housing cannot be understood without taking into account that more population is arriving than the market is capable of absorbing with the current construction pace" - Cambra de la Propietat Urbana de Tarragona
Mismatch between population and new construction
La Cambra maintains that most municipalities move in an average occupancy of between 2.4 and 2.6 people per main dwelling. Faced with that reference, the arrival of new residents and the scarce production of new flats and houses leave a gap that, in its opinion, aggravates the market tension.
That differential is appreciated with more intensity in several Tarragona municipalities. Amposta leads the ratio with 52.8 new residents per constructed dwelling between 2020 and 2024. They are followed by Valls with 49.1, El Vendrell with 24.9 and Tortosa with 24. Also appear La Ràpita with 17.2, Torredembarra with 16.5, Alcanar with 16.4, Salou with 15.1, Reus with 14.1 and Cambrils with 5.1.
Petition for measures to the administrations
The entity directly links the lack of construction with the rising cost of housing and with an increasingly limited supply, both for purchase and for rent. In this context, it demands from public administrations actions to facilitate the promotion of new housing and reduce the obstacles that hinder activity.
Among the measures it proposes are the streamlining of urban planning procedures and the promotion of the rehabilitation of the existing stock. The Chamber understands that, without a sustained increase in supply, Tarragona's residential market will remain strained in a good part of the municipalities where the population grows much faster than new construction.