How much is rent in Spain? The good news for those who are planning to rent property in Spain in 2021, a great alternative if you're not ready to buy, is that the price of housing rental in Spain has fallen by 3.8% during the 12 months of the pandemic, according to a report published by idealista. At the end of March 2021, renting a house, flat or apartment in Spain cost 10.8 euros per square metre.
Rental market overview in Spain for 2021
This fall in rental prices in Spain has been more obvious in the larger rental markets, the decline in prices led by Barcelona (where they have fallen by 14.3% in one year) and followed by Madrid (-10.7%), Palma (-8.7%), Valencia (-6.3%), Seville (-6.1%) and Malaga (-5.3%).
The pandemic has hit the Spanish rental market hard. According to Francisco Iñareta, spokesman for idealista, "the most affected municipalities have been the most dynamic, where demand was strongest. The coronavirus lockdown in Spain brought the market to a standstill for several months. Operations could not be closed, but the number of properties for rent continued to grow. During this period, supply doubled in some capitals. Once the market opened again, although demand remains strong, it has not able to absorb all the available properties and landlords who want to rent are forced to lower the price. It is therefore to be expected that as long as this high level of stock remains, prices will be maintained with downward adjustments in prices". With this in mind, the good news for all those who are looking for a rental property is that there is now a larger supply available to choose from and at prices well below those that were on the market a year ago.
Iñareta added that meanwhile, "in those markets with less dynamism, the increase in supply has not been as significant, which has reduced price pressures, to the point of being stabilised or with slightly upward variations".
Rental prices in Spain's Autonomous Regions
Despite the national fall, prices increased in 12 of Spain's Autonomous Regions. The largest increases were in Castile and León (6.5%), La Rioja (6.2%), Murcia (6.1%) and Cantabria (6%). Also with significant rises were Navarre (5.5%), Castile-La Mancha (5.4%), Galicia (4.8%) and Extremadura (4.3%). The Balearic Islands, on the other hand, recorded the biggest drop in the last 12 months, as rental prices on the islands have fallen by 14.4% during the same period. It is followed by declines in Catalonia (-8.2%) and the Community of Madrid (-8%).
Madrid and Catalonia are currently the most expensive regions to rent a property in Spain, at 13.8 euros/m2 and 13.4 euros/m2 respectively. These regions are followed by the Basque Country (12.2 euros/m2), the Balearic Islands (11.3 euros/m2) and the Canary Islands (9.9 euros/m2). On the opposite side of the table where the cost of living is lower and rentals are more affordable, we find Extremadura (5.4 euros/m2), Castilla La Mancha (5.8 euros/m2) and Murcia (6.5 euros/m2), the cheapest regions to rent property in Spain.
Rental prices in Spain's provinces
41 Spanish provinces have seen their rental prices increase during the pandemic. The largest increase was recorded in Ourense, where prices rose by 13.3%. Other significant increases were recorded in Teruel (13%), Cáceres (9.9%), Huesca (9.8%), Lugo (8.9%) and Granada (8.3%), while the biggest fall was in prices was seen in the Balearic Islands (-14.4%), followed by Barcelona (-9.5%) and Madrid (-8%).
The ranking of the most expensive provinces to rent property in Spain is headed by Barcelona (13.9 euros/m2 per month), Madrid (13.8 euros/m2) and Guipúzcoa (13.7 euros/m2). Cuenca and Jaén are the cheapest provinces to rent a property, with 4.7 euros/m2 and 4.9 euros/m2 per month, respectively. They are followed by Zamora (5 euros/m2), Cáceres and Ciudad Real (5.2 euros/m2 in both cases).
Rental prices in Spain's cities
Teruel is the Spanish city where rental prices have risen the most over the last 12 months, with an increase of 13.5%. There has also been a considerable increase in Ourense, where rents have risen by 12.4%, followed by Cáceres (10%).
The largest rental price declines are concentrated in 6 of Spain's large cities where the market was most dynamic before the pandemic. The city of Barcelona is once again where this decline has been most noticeable, with a fall of 14.3% year-on-year, followed by Madrid (-10.7%), Palma (-8.7%), Valencia (-6.3%), Seville (-6.1%) and Malaga (-5.3%). They are followed by decreases in Girona (-5%), Soria (-3.4%) and Alicante (-2.8%).
Madrid and San Sebastián are the most expensive cities in Spain for renting, with average prices of 14.6 euros/m2 in both cases. In third place is Barcelona (14.5 euros/m2) and in fourth place is Bilbao (12.5 euros/m2). At the bottom of the table with more affordable rental prices in Spain we find Zamora (5.3 euros/m2), Ávila (5.6 euros/m2), Ciudad Real, Lugo and Cáceres (5.7 euros/m2 in all 3 cases).
The idealista property price index
In order to compile the idealista real estate price index, the offer prices (based on built square metres) published by idealista advertisers are analysed. Atypical listings and listings with off-market prices are eliminated from the statistics. We include the typology of single-family homes (villas) and discard properties of any typology that have been in our database for a long time without obtaining interaction from users. The final data is generated using the median of all valid listings in each market.
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