Record-Breaking Rental Prices Amid Supply Shortage – Affordable living?
The rental market is experiencing a surge in prices due to a combination of supply shortage and increased demand. The areas experiencing the most demand pressure are predominantly located on the outskirts of major capitals. Getafe and Hospitalet de Llobregat are prime examples of this trend, outpacing even the larger cities. Interestingly, Vitoria is the only city in the top 10. During the first quarter, just over half (53%) of these areas had an average rent below €900 per month, as reported by idealista/data.
Increased Demand Pressure in Regular Rental Housing Market
The first quarter of 2024 has seen a significant increase in demand pressure in the regular rental housing market, particularly in the outskirts of Spain’s major capital cities, according to a study by idealista/data.
Large Stock Market Towns
Among the towns with a large stock on the market, those with more than 1,400 listings published between sales and rentals during the period analysed, over a hundred locations stand out. These are predominantly located around the major capitals.
High Demand Locations
Getafe (Madrid), Vitoria and Hospitalet de Llobregat (Barcelona) are among the places with the highest demand. This trend illustrates how the main towns with the highest demand are distributed between the capitals and the outskirts of the two largest cities in Spain.
Top 20 Locations
The top 20 locations include seven provincial capitals, large cities and island capitals, seven towns in the metropolitan area of Barcelona, another three in the Madrid beltway, as well as other locations on the outskirts of Valencia, Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Palma de Mallorca.
Most Sought-After Locations for Rental Properties
Following the top three locations, Móstoles and Alcalá de Henares in Madrid, Terrassa, Manresa, Badalona, Mataró, Sabadell and Vilanova i la Geltrú in Barcelona, as well as Zaragoza, Palma, Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria are also highly sought after. Torrent, near Valencia, Arona on the island of Tenerife, and Manacor in Mallorca complete the top 20 most sought-after locations for rental properties.
Rental Prices in Most Sought-After Locations
The average rental prices of these most sought-after locations reveal that only four out of the top 10 towns have total average rents below €900/month. These are Alcalá de Henares (€894/month), Terrassa (€850), Manresa (€696) and Torrent (€891). Out of the 110 locations with the highest demand pressure in the rental market, 51 report rent above €900/month. However, more towns, up to 53% of the total, still have rents below €900/month.
Most Affordable Rental Prices
The towns with the highest rental demand and the most affordable prices are Ciudad Real at €513/month, Palencia at €534, and a tie between Ourense and the Almeria town of Vera at €592. A further 14 towns among the most sought-after still offer prices between €600 and €700 per month on average, such as Manresa (€696), Castellón (€686), Burgos (€650) and Algeciras (€602).
High-End Rental Properties in Coastal Towns
Coastal towns with high-end rental properties have the highest rents. Benahavís stands out (€3,442/month), ahead of Marbella (€2,987), Calvià (€2,818) and Sotogrande (€2,621). Still above €2,000 per month are Estepona (€2,394), Sant Cugat del Vallès (€2,240), Finestrat (€2,231) and Adeje (€2,043). Sitges (€1,980), Castelldefels (€1,958), Llucmajor (€1,945) and Alfaz del Pi (€1,939) are also very close to this figure.
About idealista/data
idealista/data is a proptech by idealista that provides information for a professional audience to facilitate strategic decision-making in Spain, Italy and Portugal. It uses all the idealista database parameters in each country and other public and private data sources to offer valuation, investment, recruitment and market analysis services.
