Finding an apartment to rent is not an easy task. The shortage of supply contrasts with high demand that does not stop growing, which in turn increases the pressure on the prices. According to the third quarter barometer published this Wednesday by the Rental Observatory of the Seguro Rental Foundation – prepared in collaboration with the Rey Juan Carlos University -, the volume of apartments offered for rent It decreased between June and September by 27,732 properties. Meanwhile, the number of interested parties per ad grew to 120 calls in the first ten days.
In the third quarter, a total of 734,622 homes for rent. The drop in supply in the summer months was general, although the report published this Wednesday suggests that the situation is especially “worrying” in the Balearic Islands, Madrid and Barcelonathe areas that have precisely the highest prices. In the archipelago and in the capital, the number of apartments available for rent decreased by 1,543 and 2,155 properties respectively in the third quarter compared to the previous three months. The decline was more pronounced in Barcelona, where 9,284 houses left the market, a collapse in supply that the Observatory links to the application of price controls following the declaration of stressed areas.
These data show a supply unable to meet the growing demand. The average of 115 contacts per ad detected in the second quarter increased to 120 calls in ten days in the summer months. This figure multiplies by eight the level of 15 interested parties per advertisement that the Rental Observatory considers should be “normal.” “The arrival of more migrants and the difficulties in accessing home ownership are promoting rentals as an increasingly attractive housing alternative,” they explain as the causes of the strong interest in this type of accommodation.
The situation is especially tense in Barcelona. According to the barometer, In the most populated province of Catalonia, an average of 397 calls per apartment are registered in just ten days. Although at a considerable distance, it is followed by Vizcaya, Álava, the Balearic Islands, Madrid, Valencia and Santa Cruz de Tenerife de Tenerife, with more than one hundred contacts per advertisement. Faced with this tension around the big cities and tourist areas, in the interior of the peninsula there are barely ten calls per advertisement. This is the case of Cuenca, Lugo, Palencia, Ourense, Zamora, Badajoz, Huesca and Teruel, for example.
Rentals of more than 1,100 euros
“The imbalances between a booming demand and a supply that is not only completely insufficient but also continues to contract push up prices, especially in large cities and some coastal provinces,” highlights the report, which indicates a consolidation of the trends already detected in recent years. The average rental price reached 1,117 euros per apartment in the third quarter. This is an amount 11 euros higher than the average recorded in the previous three months, which marks a new record in the series. From the Rental Observatory they point to a “general stabilization” of prices, although the rise has continued unstoppable since 2021.
The rise in prices has taken its toll especially in large cities and the most touristy areas. The Balearic Islands and Barcelona are the provinces where it is most expensive to rent an apartment. The monthly income reaches an average of 1,604 euros. They are followed by Madrid, Guipúzcoa, Vizcaya and Málagaall of them above the average, with average incomes of 1,502, 1,429, 1,230 and 1,195 euros respectively. These amounts contrast with those paid in more depopulated provinces such as León, Cuenca, Ávila, Cáceres, Huesca, Badajoz, Then, Palencia or Zamora, where the average rent for an apartment does not exceed 600 euros. Ciudad Real and Teruel are the most affordable areas (498 and 481 euros on average respectively).
“If there are no homes available to respond to the high volume of demand, prices will not be able to stabilize to make it easier for more young people and families to find a rental that fits their needs”, assesses the report prepared by the Safe Rental Foundation and the URJC, which maintains that “some housing measures deployed in Spain in recent years are not achieving the expected effects.” Specifically, they criticize the price control and the declaration of stressed areas provided for in the housing law. They even point out that the Basque Country’s decision to follow in the footsteps of Catalonia to become the second community in put in This mechanism is already reflected in a decrease in the supply of residential rentals.