
It is not an impression, it is the data. Apartments for rent in Barcelona disappear in a matter of hours from real estate portals and the explanation lies in the high demand.
For each rental ad that is published in Barcelona, an owner receives an average of 54 contacts, either calls or messages through portals such as Idealista. A figure that has multiplied by 7 in 5 years, according to the latest data published by the real estate portal Idealista in its annual report of 2024.
This data places Barcelona as the fourth provincial capital and the first large city in Spain with the highest ratio of demand per published ad, only behind Vitoria (108 potential customers per ad), Guadalajara (82), and Pamplona (61). Capital cities such as Madrid and Valencia receive between 40 and 28 contacts per ad published on the portal.
This data completes the devilish rental puzzle in Barcelona, where the shortage of housing on the market, together with the incipient seasonal rental to circumvent the limitation on rental prices, has meant that long-term ads are becoming less and less common on this portal.
In Barcelona, a person currently devotes 44% of their income to paying rent, according to the latest effort rate collected by this portal.
The upward trend in rental demand is global for all of Spain and has been in almost vertical progression since 2021 with the recovery of mobility after the pandemic.
A shortage of housing that is also reflected in the sale and purchase, near record highs in demand, with 5 contacts per ad, 5 times more than 5 years ago when the ratio of 1 lead/advertisement was barely exceeded.
These, however, are more modest figures than in other national markets such as Madrid or Valencia, where the demand for sale and purchase is skyrocketing with 16 and 11 leads per ad, respectively.
The Idealista 2024 annual report can be consulted in full at this link.