The rental stock in Barcelona has plummeted by more than 50% during this term of office, which, together with the growing rental demand, has caused the average price to reach €18.6 per square metre per month, reaching the all-time high of January 2023, according to data from idealista, after increasing by 18.7% year-on-year in April. Applying rent limits for a year and a half (September 2020–March 2022) and Barcelona City Council's unfulfilled promises on social housing have left a bleak outlook for the Catalan capital's rental market.
Barcelona's residential rental market is experiencing a rough time as the municipal elections in Catalonia approach on 28 May. On the one hand, the rental housing supply has fallen by 51% in the last four years, comparing the stock data of the first quarter of 2019 with those of the same period in 2023, according to a study published by idealista.
The national average remains at 28% of the fall in the supply of rental properties, while compared to Madrid (-44%), the Catalan capital has lost the highest percentage of homes during this term of office. Only Cuenca (-59%) has a higher drop, according to the latest published data.
During the first quarter of this year, 20,000 homes were advertised for rent on idealista, compared to more than 36,000 between January and March 2019. The situation during the Covid-19 pandemic first dented supply before it picked up, and thousands of units were added to the rental market, which were drastically cut at the end of 2021 when the Catalan rent control law came into force.
During this period, prices fell, but the housing stock withdrew from the rental market in Barcelona. Between September 2020 and March 2022, prices were capped in the Catalan capital and 60 Catalan towns. During this period, the stock in Barcelona fell by 70%. The rental stock has yet to recover after the Constitutional Court declared it unconstitutional just over a year ago for encroaching on state competencies.
The sharp fall in the rental supply, combined with growing demand, has pushed rental prices to all-time highs in idealista's records. With the latest data from April, the average price to rent a place in Barcelona is €18.6 per square metre per month, similar to the record of January 2023.
Four years ago, rental prices were around €16.1 per square metre and went as low as €14.1 per square metre during the rent price cap period, 12.4% less due to supply drying up in the market. With the end of price controls, and fewer and fewer properties being rented, rental prices have continued to rise, by 21% since the Constitutional Court's ruling.